Baltimore Jury Awards $10.3 Million To 14 Plaintiffs In Last Round Of Consolidated Asbestos Cases

Melanie A. Stone, MPH
Epidemiologist
Scientific Evidence, Inc.
08/18/00

In the last set of 400 consolidated asbestos cases to be decided in a month-long trial in Baltimore City Circuit Court, a jury on Aug. 9 awarded 14 people suffering from asbestos-related diseases $10.3 million.

In a case brought as 26 consolidated asbestos actions, the jury found AC&S Inc. responsible for exposing the plaintiffs to asbestos-related products. All 14 of the plaintiffs, some of whose cases have been pending in Baltimore courts since 1985, suffer or did suffer from asbestosis, the jury decided. AC&S won defense verdicts in the other 12 cases.

The jury was asked to determine whether each plaintiff was a foreseeable user and/or bystander to the asbestos products and whether each plaintiff suffered from an asbestos-related disease. The jury was also asked to decide whether the products from AC&S and other defendants were substantial contributing factors for the diseases.