Trial Magazine

In 1959, George Lucas started working as a longshore laborer and clerk at various San Francisco Bay-area piers where break-bulk ships loaded and unloaded cargo. During breaks, he frequently went into the ships’ engine rooms to get warm. Often, employees of shipyard contractor Triple A Machine Shop, Inc., were in the same engine rooms removing and replacing asbestos-containing insulation, gaskets, and packing. The work exposed Lucas to substantial amounts of asbestos dust. His bystander exposure from Triple A employees’ work continued until 1986.

In August 2017, Lucas was diagnosed with mesothelioma. Despite two thoracentesis procedures to drain fluid from his lungs, a talc pleurodesis to control malignant pleural effusion, and chemotherapy treatments, his prognosis remained poor.

Lucas sued Triple A, among others, alleging that the company was negligent in failing to test for and discover asbestos hazards generated by its work, warn of those hazards, and provide dust control and breathing protection for the benefit of its own workers as well as bystanders.

The plaintiff also sued various other contractors and companies that manufactured or supplied asbestos. The other defendants settled confidentially before trial or just after opening statements, and the trial continued against Triple A.

The plaintiff offered evidence that Triple A knew or should have known of medical and scientific literature dating back to the 1920s and federal and state regulations dating back to the 1930s that required them to know of, test for, warn about, and protect against the hazard.

Triple A argued that Lucas was negligent for going into the engine rooms; that his disease resulted from other sources, including the bags of raw asbestos fibers that he occasionally unloaded; and that the company’s practices were the same as others in the industry.

The jury awarded $24.26 million, including $760,000 in economic damages for past and future medical expenses, past and future loss of ­household services, and future income loss; and $23.5 million in noneconomic damages for past and future pain and suffering and emotional distress.

The jury allocated fault at 27 percent to Triple A and the remainder to other entities. After allocation of fault and the application of settlement credits and costs, Triple A would have been responsible for approximately $7 million. The parties subsequently settled for a confidential amount.

Citation: Lucas v. Triple A Mach. Shop, Inc., No. CGC 16-2765498 (Cal. Super. Ct. San Francisco Cnty. Nov. 29, 2017).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member James P. Nevin and Jordan Scott, both of Novato, Calif.

Plaintiff experts: Charles Ay, certified asbestos consulting, Los Angeles; Richard Cohen, occupational/preventive medicine, Saratoga, Calif.; Barry Horn, pulmonology, and Allan Smith, epidemiology, both of Berkeley, Calif.; Steven Compton, microscopy, Duluth, Ga.; and Arnold Brody, cellular biology, New Orleans.

Defense expert: Kyle Dotson, industrial hygiene, Los Altos, Calif.

Comment: The plaintiff died the day after the verdict was handed down. He is survived by his daughter and two grandchildren.