$20 Million Verdict for Mesothelioma Victim in Asbestos Lawsuit
March 12, 2008, San Francisco - Joan Mahoney, a 69-year-old-woman with mesothelioma, and her husband of 42 years, Daniel Mahoney, have won a $20 million dollar liability civil lawsuit, in what is one of the largest verdicts of its kind. The jury has attributed 30% of the $20 million liability to the defendant, Georgia Pacific Corp, for a total of $6 million.
Joan Mahoney spent much of her career working in real estate and the entertainment industry. She traveled around the world seven times as part of a singing career that spanned thirty years. Joan also spent a portion of her time working for the family construction business, and it was here that she was exposed to asbestos.
The Mahoney’s lawsuit has established that the asbestos exposure took place as a result of the use of a Georgia Pacific joint compound that contained asbestos. Through the Mahoneys’ work in the family construction business the couple built or remodeled more than 200 houses between the 1970s and 1990s. Asbestos was used in an enormous variety of construction materials, including joint compound and other adhesives, up until the mid 1980s.
Evidence presented by the Mahoneys’ representatives during the trial showed that Georgia Pacific had known of the hazards of asbestos exposure from the moment the company had entered the business of using asbestos in its products.
Exposure to asbestos is the only cause of diseases such as asbestosis, a chronic lung condition, and a cancer called mesothelioma. Joan Mahoney developed mesothelioma as a result of her asbestos exposure. There is currently no cure, and no effective treatments for this highly aggressive cancer.
The Mahoneys’ suit alleged that Georgia Pacific had known its joint compound posed a health risk to users many years before the couple’s construction business began using the product. In addition, Georgia Pacific continued to manufacture asbestos-containing joint compound products long after other companied had discontinued the practice.
Georgia Pacific ceased manufacturing and selling their asbestos-containing joint compound only in 1977, when the government banned certain types of asbestos-containing products. The Consumer Product Safety Commission indicated at the time that as little as four six-hour sessions of exposure to asbestos-containing joint compound per year could cause the development of asbestos cancer.
The Mahoneys’ lawsuit shows that up until 1977, Georgia Pacific had made a conscious decision to continue selling the asbestos-containing compound-to benefit financially despite knowing that the product they were selling could cause cancer in the people who used it and were exposed to it. Georgia Pacific benefits in particular because it decided to continue selling their joint compound after most other manufacturers had ceased production of similar products.
Joan Mahoney was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2006, around 35 years after she was first exposed to the asbestos in Georgia Pacific’s joint compound. Having fought and won against the company responsible for the disease, she now continues to fight the disease itself.
