Date: 05-01-2010

Case Style: Rhoda Evans and Bobby Evans v. Certaintweed Corp., et al

Case Number: BC418867

Judge: Conrad Aragon

Court: Superior Court, Los Angeles County, California

Plaintiff's Attorney: Laurel Simes and William Levin, Levin Simes Kaiser & Gornick, San Francisco, California

Defendant's Attorney: Bill Sayers, McKenna Long & Aldridge, Los Angeles, California

Description: Rhoda Evans sued CertainTweed Corp. and the City of Los Angeles on products liability theory and negligence theories claiming that she developed mesothelioma as a direct result of being exposed to asbestos in clothing in her husband's clothing which he wore at work with the Department of Water and Power in Los Angeles. Certain Tweed pipes were used by the Department of Water and Power contained asbestos.

Plaintiff's husband, Bobby, asserted a loss of consortium claim. He worked for the city's water and power department for 24 years and, at one time, cut CertainTeed asbestos cement water pipes.

The defenses asserted by Defendants are not available other than that punitive damages should not be awarded.

Outcome: Plaintiffs' verdicts for $8 million in compensatory damages against the DWP and CertainTeed Corp., and $200 million in punitive damages against CertainTeed only.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

Comments: Editor's Note: Mesothelioma is a form of lung cancer that it uniquely associated with exposure to asbestos and is invariably fatal. As estimated 3,000 cases of mesothelioma are diagnosed every year despite the fact that asbestos has not been used in the manufacture of hardly any product since the early 1970s.

One problem that attorneys representing asbestosis sufferers have is finding a economically viable defendant since many companies that made products containing asbestos have gone out of business.