MADISON COUNTY, Wisconsin - Madison County courts recently entered a fifth verdict for the defense in five separate asbestos related lawsuits. In Madison County, asbestos cases seldom make it as far as a trial. Generally, lawyers and insurance companies reach a settlement out of court, often for millions of dollars. In the past two years, those that are not settled have often been decided in favor of the defendants, leaving plaintiffs with nothing to show for their illnesses and losses.

The Asbestos Cases
In 2006, 84 year old Anita O’Connell brought suit against Georgia-Pacific and Bondex International, claiming that she had been exposed to asbestos while washing her husband’s work clothes while he was employed by the company. Her suit claimed that the two companies were negligent for exposing her to asbestos fibers that became airborne while she shook out her husband’s work clothing. Her husband worked for the two companies between 1966 and 1970.

The jury deliberated for five and a half hours and then rejected the claim. Georgia-Pacific was found not be at fault in the case.

Another Madison Count jury only took 20 minutes to reject the suit brought by Jane Gudmondson, who claimed that her husband had developed mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos while serving on a navy destroyer during the Korean War in the early 1950s. She claimed that the cause of her husband’s mesothelioma was asbestos in the insulation around steam turbines on the ship on which he served.

On May 26, 2005, the jury rejected her claim. The trial lasted eight days, and was almost cut short early when the presiding judge declared “weak evidence”.

On May 19, 2005, another Madison County jury found in favor of a plaintiff, but reduced the requested damages to a mere $500,000. Willard King brought suit against Bondex, Georgia-Pacific, John Crane, RPM, Inc., and Lynn Tractor and Equipment Company for his mesothelioma. His suit claimed that he was exposed to asbestos while working on farm equipment and cars from 1950 to 1987. The $500,000 was further reducred because the Kings had already received settlements before the trial, and those settlements were deducted from the verdict.

Before 2005, however, Madison County jurors were far more sympathetic to sick plaintiffs with mesothelioma. In three Madison Country trials between 2000 and 2003, juries awarded $16 million, $34 million and $250 million.

The lower verdicts may reflect a changing attitude toward litigation for asbestos related suits. Both state and national legislatures have been pushing for tort reform, stating that civil suits have pushed awards out of the realm of reality. Where asbestos is concerned, particularly if the plaintiffs have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, juries and judges are requiring stronger evidence linking the asbestos exposure to plaintiffs.

Congress has been attempting for years to pass a bill that will set up a fund to compensate those injured by asbestos without recourse to trial. Such a fund will remove the right to sue for mesothelioma and asbestos exposure. While the various bills that have been presented are strongly supported by big business, they have yet to pass both houses.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 23rd, 2007 at 7:01 pm and is filed under Asbestos Litigation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.