Bell v. Dresser Industries Incorporated
In 2001 a group of Alabama plaintiffs claimed that a former employer allowed them to be exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos. The five men, laborers or millwrights, said they contracted asbestosis when exposed to the asbestos in the spray products mixed by U.S. Pipe, their Alabama employer. They also alleged that Dresser Industries, an asbestos manufacturer that sold asbestos byproducts, had known for many years that asbestos was a carcinogen yet failed to warn of the danger. The equipment they used at U.S. Pipe was from Dresser Industries and the plaintiffs claimed that they were defective products with inadequate warnings. The defendants, Dresser Industries, contested that the men were never exposed to their products and that the products in question were never sold to U.S. Pipe.
However, the exposure was fatal: all five of the men were diagnosed with asbestosis. Two also had lung cancer and two others had colon cancer. The two with colon cancer died of their conditions and their widows presented claims of loss of consortium and household services. The jury in an 11-1 vote awarded the plaintiffs $130 million after finding negligence, defective products and inadequate warnings as to each defendant. The surviving employees each received $4 million in the past and $2 million in future damages. The estates of the deceased were each rewarded $4 million and the two widows were each awarded $2 million.
The Bell v. Dresser Industries Inc. case was one of the largest asbestos verdicts in the United States
