Parents Secure $850k in Asbestos Day Care Settlement
Legislation & Litigation
Written by Travis Rodgers | Edited by Amy Edel
Mediation finalized in December 2025 finally brings financial closure after a 7-year legal battle between parents of children exposed to asbestos in day care at the University of Montana campus. The negotiated settlement offers 17 parents $850,000.
University employees reportedly first discovered asbestos contamination on the second floor of McGill Hall in December 2018. Weeks later maintenance workers discovered hazardous asbestos fibers throughout the HVAC systems, describing them as piling up in ventilation systems. The toxic mineral was also found on surfaces at day care centers in both McGill Hall and Craighead Hall.
“Asbestos in day care is particularly concerning because of the age of the children,” Dr. Snehal Smart, a board certified Patient Advocate and in-house medical doctor at The Mesothelioma Center, tells us. “Asbestos-related cancers like mesothelioma have a very long latency period after initial exposure and before the disease occurs.”
She adds, “Young children who get exposed to asbestos could develop mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive malignant cancer, in their early years, such as in their 20s or 30s. This is around the age they’re just settling in their careers, starting families, etc. To be diagnosed with a terminal cancer at that age would be devastating.”
Discovery and Delayed Response Sparked Legal Action
The contamination timeline troubled parents who filed suit in May 2020. University workers found asbestos on McGill Hall’s second floor in December 2018 and immediately sealed the area. The building housed the Associated Students of the University of Montana day care center for young children.
More concerning findings emerged in January 2019 when asbestos appeared inside both facilities’ HVAC systems and contaminated toys, tables and other surfaces. Maintenance staff reported loose fibers blowing actively through air vents. The university relocated day care services within a day and invested $700,000 in professional remediation.
Parents argued university leadership failed to warn families, faculty and staff promptly when asbestos first surfaced. They learned full details of the asbestos exposure after the fact, fueling concerns about health risks for their very young children.
The Medical Uncertainty Facing Families
There is no safe level of asbestos exposure. The 17 families sued the University of Montana and State of Montana over unsafe asbestos levels that put children at risk for mesothelioma and sought compensation for medical monitoring costs.
Asbestos exposure causes asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis. Mesothelioma, for example, has a latency period typically spanning 20 to 60 years between initial exposure and symptom onset. Exposure duration and concentration levels influence how quickly the disease may develop.
The lawsuits alleged the university violated its own asbestos safety protocols. Families felt betrayed that children breathed hazardous fibers daily before any protective action was taken.
Resolution Without Admission of Wrongdoing
The December 2025 mediation resolved all pending cases with $850,000 distributed among the 17 families. The university admitted no fault as part of the settlement agreement, though families gained financial resources to address future health concerns.
University spokesperson Dave Kuntz welcomed the resolution and emphasized current safety measures in a statement to the press. Campus day care centers now operate under strict monitoring standards established after the incident, with ongoing air testing results made publicly available.
“Our day care areas are safe. We’re constantly monitoring them as [in] other areas on campus, especially in some of our older buildings,” Kuntz said. “These are opportunities that we’re going to use going forward to make sure our practices, our ability, our procedures are up to speed and folks can come to campus every day, regardless if they’re a student, an employee, or at a day care center, and do so as safely as possible.”
The affected children, now in middle school, show no disease symptoms. Regular medical screenings can help monitor for asbestos-related illnesses that may develop decades after exposure.
