Advertisement

Tampa jury awards nearly $37 million in asbestos case

 
Published Sept. 2, 2014

Jurisprudence

Jury awards nearly $37M in asbestos suit

A Tampa jury this week awarded nearly $37 million to asbestos plaintiffs in a brake-lining-exposure lawsuit, finding Pneumo Abex LLC 75 percent liable. The jury in the Florida 13th Judicial Circuit Court for Hills­borough County reached the verdict Wednesday. Chief Judge Manuel Menendez Jr. presided over the 21/2-week trial, which ended after two hours of deliberations.

Gary Hampton, a former Tampa resident who now lives in Virginia, worked as a mechanic for seven years in the 1970s. He said he was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2013 stemming from his exposure to brake linings made by Pneumo Abex and Ford Motor Co.

Jurors found Pneumo Abex negligent for failing to warn Hampton about the dangers of asbestos-containing brake linings and strictly liable for placing a defective product in the stream of commerce. Pneumo Abex was the lone remaining defendant. Ford Motor reached an earlier settlement.

The Ferraro Law Firm out of Miami represented Hampton.

Times staff