ASBESTOS JUDGMENTS COST DUPONT $7 MILLION CHEMICAL GIANT LOSES THREE OF FIVE CLAIMS

Publication: THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE
Published: 03/06/2002
Page: 1C
Headline: ASBESTOS JUDGMENTS COST DUPONT $7 MILLION CHEMICAL GIANT LOSES THREE OF FIVE CLAIMS
Byline: LAWRENCE MESSINA

larrym@wvgazette.com

Leonard Dale Cox was chief executive officer of the Bank of Gassaway when doctors told him that asbestos was about to kill him.

Cox, 52, had never worked with the heat- and fire-resistant fibers. Nonetheless, they had coated his lungs enough to prompt mesothelioma, an inoperable form of lung cancer.

Doctors soon found the fibers' origin: Cox's father. Cecil Cox had installed asbestos insulation at DuPont's Belle plant from the 1940s until his 1970s retirement. Each day, he brought the fibers home in his work clothes and coveralls.

Leonard Cox died in 2000. He was 53. His survivors blame DuPont for his fatal illness. A Kanawha Circuit jury agreed with them last week, and ordered DuPont to pay $6.4 million.

That verdict includes $1.7 million for Cox's lost earnings, $2 million for Cox's widow and $300,000 to each of their two children for their loss, another $2 million for his pain and suffering and $118,000 for medical bills.

The jury also awarded $600,000 to the widow of a DuPont laborer and mechanic. DuPont intentionally exposed Roy Lupardis to asbestos, the jury found, because the chemical giant knew of the fibers' negative effects throughout Lupardis' 35 years at the Belle plant.

"The jury in this case found that the employer, DuPont, acted with 'deliberate intent,'" William Schwartz, a lawyer for Lupardis' widow, said Tuesday. "I think that was a significant finding."

But the jury rejected a similar claim from the family of another longtime DuPont worker. Robert Pritt had worked at the Belle plant from the 1940s until 1959. He died of mesothelioma last year.

The jury also refused to blame DuPont for the lung cancer that killed Page Humphreys. His survivors linked his exposure to his stint as a union contract worker at DuPont's Parkersburg plant in 1960.

But the jury awarded $24,800 to a second contract worker. Bernard Belville blames the asbestos-related thickening of the lining of his lungs on his 10 weeks at the Belle plant.

The jury reached its various verdicts Friday, capping a three-week trial before a pair of judges assigned all asbestos-related claims.

The case originally involved more than 60 plaintiffs and a number of companies. All but the five claims against DuPont settled before the trial's opening statements.

Asbestos claims generally allege that the companies that made, used or installed the fibrous material had known for decades of its health hazards, but suppressed that knowledge until the 1970s.

The state workers' compensation system normally handles injury claims against employers. Workers must clear a series of legal hurdles when they file suit against employers, as in the case of Lupardis and Pritt.

Senior Judge Andrew MacQueen and Ohio County Circuit Judge Martin Gaughan presided over the trial, which was held at the Robert C. Byrd United States Courthouse to accommodate the number of lawyers involved.

The jury started deliberating Thursday afternoon and returned its verdicts Friday evening.

To contact staff writer Lawrence Messina, use e-mail or call 348-4869.