Goldberg Segalla LLP
USA
October 18 2011
In Garrison v. Union Carbide Corp. (Fla. Cir., Broward Co., Sept. 21, 2011), Charles Garrison alleged that he was exposed to asbestos-containing joint compound while remodeling the attic in his uncle’s home in 1974. Mr. Garrison did the work in exchange for free housing while attending college. The only remaining defendant at trial was Union Carbide Corporation, which challenged the mesothelioma diagnosis and argued the disease was in remission. Union Carbide, as the supplier of the asbestos component of the product, also argued that any duty to warn Mr. Garrison fell to Georgia-Pacific as the manufacturer of the joint compound product.
On September 21, 2011, the jury awarded Charles and Cynthia Garrison $20,646,000, consisting of $16.4 million to Charles Garrison, $4 million to Cynthia Garrison and $246,000 in medical expenses. Union Carbide was found 80 percent liable for Mr. Garrison’s injuries.
via Florida jury awards $20 million for mesothelioma – Lexology.