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Failure to warn workers of asbestos hazards on naval ships
December 2021/January 2022Dennis Woodruff worked for Zidell Dismantling between 1970 and 1973. During this time, he worked at the Port of Tacoma, dismantling decommissioned WWII naval ships. He was allegedly exposed to asbestos-containing insulation taken from ships during the dismantling process. At age 74, he was diagnosed as having mesothelioma, which necessitated surgery, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. His medical expenses totaled approximately $200,000.
Woodruff sued Zidell Explorations, Inc., Zidell Dismantling’s sister company, which owned the ships and guaranteed to the port that it would ensure the job site was kept clean and safe. The plaintiff asserted that the defendant had negligently failed to warn or protect workers from asbestos hazards on the ships. Plaintiff counsel presented testimony that environmental studies of the port revealed asbestos buried in the soil decades after the plaintiff had worked there.
The jury awarded $11.2 million.
Citation: Woodruff v. Port of Tacoma, No. 20-2-08044-1 (Wash. Super. Ct. Pierce Cty. Aug. 5, 2021).
Plaintiff counsel: AAJ members Chandler Udo and Justin Olson, both of Seattle.
Plaintiff experts: John Templin, industrial hygiene, Boise, Idaho; and Andrew Churg, pathology, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Defense expert: Christy Barlow, toxicology, Boulder, Colo.
Comment: See also Jennings v. Honeywell Int’l, Inc., No. 913528 (Ohio Ct. Com. Pl. Cuyahoga Cty. Aug. 3, 2021). There, a jury awarded approximately $10.6 million, finding that exposure to asbestos from Honeywell/Bendix brakes was a substantial factor in causing Darrell Jennings’s mesothelioma. The jury, which found Honeywell 70% at fault and an undisclosed automotive brake manufacture 30% liable, concluded that the Honeywell/Bendix friction products to which Jennings was exposed were defective when they were placed on the market and that the defendant had failed to provide an adequate warning. Shawn M. Acton, Ryan J. Cavanaugh, Brian R. Herberth, and William D. Mason, Jr., all of Cleveland, represented the plaintiff.
