ALTON, Illinois – Simmons Hanly Conroy, one of the nation’s leading mesothelioma law firms, is pleased to announce the Daily Journal has named a $34 million asbestos verdict against Ford Motor Company one of the Top Verdicts of 2019.
Recognized in the Top 10 Plaintiffs’ Verdicts category, the case involved Arthur Putt, a former mechanic who was diagnosed with mesothelioma after repeated exposure to asbestos-containing breaks manufactured by Ford.
Putt performed thousands of brake jobs and safety inspections in the late 1960s and ‘70s at gas stations in California and Indiana. He was exposed to asbestos-contaminated dust while conducting brake inspections, blowing out brake drums, sanding new brakes, and sweeping and blowing the dust off the floor at the end of the day.
Firm Shareholders Jennifer Alesio, Daniel P. Blouin, and John Richardson represented the couple in Arthur Putt and Janet Putt vs. CBS Corporation, et al., Case No. 18STCV06912. Alesio and Blouin served as co-leads in the trial, which lasted four weeks. Other attorneys instrumental in the case’s success were Shareholders Tim Thompson, Deborah Rosenthal and Paul Cook.
The jury deliberated less than two hours, finding Ford 100-percent responsible for Putt’s mesothelioma diagnosis. The mesothelioma verdict included $8.5 million in damages, with $4.5 million in compensatory damages to Putt and $4 million in loss of consortium damages to his wife, Janet. In addition, determining that Ford acted with fraud, oppression and malice, the jury awarded $25.5 million in punitive damages.
The Daily Journal’s Top Verdicts list highlights the “largest and most significant” verdicts in California.
