Jeanette Franklin v. USX Corporation - $6.5 million verdict in a childhood household exposure to asbestos case.

Attorneys Simona Farrise, Andrea Huston, and others at The Firm made U.S. asbestos litigation history with a verdict of $6,500,000 in an asbestos cancer case that arose after childhood household exposure to asbestos.

Jeanette Franklin, the plaintiff, was a little girl in the 1940s when both of her parents worked at USX Corporation's Western Pipe & Steel shipyard in South San Francisco. Her father was a burner (welder) and her mother a ship's carpenter's assistant. Her parents unknowingly carried deadly asbestos fibers home on their clothing, and their young children were exposed.

In March 1999, Jeanette Franklin was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an asbestos-caused cancer, and on August 25, 1999, filed suit on her behalf. By February 2000, the case was settled with almost all of the defendants except USX Corporation. USX is the successor corporation to Western Pipe & Steel shipyard, and refused to offer even $1. The case was tried to an Alameda County, California, jury by principal Simona Farrise and associate Andrea Huston.

The tragedy is that Mrs. Franklin has mesothelioma, which is a terminal cancer. Compounding this tragedy is the fact that Mrs. Franklin is not alone in having an asbestos-related disease, and that thousands of people are still unknowingly exposed to asbestos every day. Although no amount of money can restore Jeanette Franklin's health, she has gained some peace because she has obtained justice for herself and her family.

We are proud of the work that we did on behalf of the Franklins and the result that we achieved, through both settlements and the trial verdict.

This was a complex case - we sued eighteen defendants - and the exposure happened sixty years ago. Our investigators contacted over 150 potential witnesses and reviewed many thousands of pages of business records, depositions, contracts, plans, government documents, blueprints, deeds, old newspapers, and photograph collections. Yet we were able to resolve the case, including a five week trial, in less than seven months.

This verdict is important because Mrs. Franklin was not exposed to asbestos at work. Rather, as a child in her home environment, she was exposed to asbestos that her parents brought home with them from work. The law is fairly clear about the responsibilities and duties of an employer towards an employee, and extends an employer's responsibility to protect the family of an employee who unknowingly takes home hazardous substances. This verdict sends a clear message to employers. If heeded, it has the potential to improve the health and safety of many people.

We found evidence about the dusty conditions and poor ventilation at the shipyard. For example, a July 26, 1943, letter to the shipyard alerted them to the fact that the asbestos dust levels at a power saw in the yard were 80 million particles per cubic foot. This was 16 times higher than the maximum allowable concentration under the regulations in effect at that time, and thousands of times above than the current OSHA asbestos standard.

In the engine room of one of the ships where asbestos insulation was being installed in 1943, the inspector measured 9 million particles per cubic foot.

Fig. 1

More than this, we introduced documents showing that, despite the reports from the government inspectors, the dust conditions actually deteriorated. When the inspectors returned in 1944, they noted that "the ventilation of ship's [sic] under construction is substantially poorer this year than in June 1943." (Fig. 1)

And the following year, in 1945, they again observed that the inadequate ventilation conditions had worsened (Fig. 2) and that the maintenance of ventilation equipment was poor. (Fig. 3)

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

USX Corporation has, on several instances over the years, avoided responsibility for the Western Pipe & Steel shipyard, by challenging the claim that it is the successor entity. However, through diligent discovery efforts, obtained documents that, for the first time, held USX as the successor. This achievement will be of value for others who were exposed at this shipyard.

Finally, the amount of the award is believed to be the highest jury verdict in an individual asbestos case in Northern California's courts.