San Francisco Jury Awards $10.3 Million to Meso Victim

August 11, 2006 - This week, a San Francisco Superior Court jury awarded $10.3 million to a man suffering from mesothelioma.  Plaintiff George Barnes, 60, and his wife Darlene are to receive $9 million in non-economic damages for physical pain or mental suffering as well as numerous awards for economic damages, including $210,000 for medical bills, $861,083 for past and future income, and $178,974 for the loss of Barnes' services around his family's two-acre property. The jury found that Darlene Barnes' loss of consortium was worth another $100,000.

Thorpe Insulation Company was the lone defendant at this trial, reports Law.com.  However, the jury found that only 15 percent of the harm to Barnes was inflicted by Thorpe.  Therefore, the Barnes family will probably only be entitled to about $2.3 million from the company. 

The jury also attributed 5 percent of the harm to the plaintiff himself, 55 percent to his former employer, the U.S. Navy, and 25 percent to other manufacturers and distributors, according to trial records.  Details of settlements with other defendants were confidential.

Lawyers for the plaintiff believe, however, that Thorpe does not have the assets to compensate Barnes so they expect they will be litigating with the company’s insurance carriers. 

Attorneys involved in the case believe this is one of California's 10 largest compensatory verdicts for asbestos cases in the last 15 years.