• 23
  • August
    2010

Baton Rouge mesothelioma attorneys were pleased to see a decision by a New Jersey state appeals court that upheld a $7 million jury award to a woman with mesothelioma. Her lawsuit contended that she contracted the cancer, caused by asbestos, while working at Linden Bayway Refinery and laundering the clothes of her husband who also worked there.

The sole remaining defendant, Exxon, appealed the award because a judge allowed a second damages trial after the first jury awarded the victim only $500,000.

"I'm glad they see what the truth is," said the plaintiff, Bonnie Anderson, of the appeals court. "I'm glad to be alive."

An Exxon Mobil company spokesman said:

"We're reviewing the decision and will evaluate our options."

Bonnie Anderson, now 61 and from Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, worked at the Exxon facility from 1974 to 1986 as an electrician. She said at the trial that she never worked with asbestos insulation that covered pipes at the refinery.

However, her husband, John, repaired pipes, pumps and filters, breaking insulation off with his bare hands at times when he started there in 1969. Bonnie Anderson cleaned his work clothes.

Bonnie Anderson was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2001 after suffering abdominal problems.

Mesothelioma is a cancer of the linings around various body cavities, such as the peritoneal cavity enclosing the abdomen, which is the condition Bonnie Anderson's has.

The first jury in the case awarded Bonnie $500,000 in compensatory damages and nothing in punitive damages.

She and her husband challenged the award and Judge Ann McCormick, sitting in New Brunswick, New Jersey, ordered a new damages trial.

In addition to the $7 million plus pre-trial and post-trial interest for Bonnie Anderson, the jury awarded John Anderson $500,000.

  • Source: myCentralJersey.com "Linden mesothelioma damages award upheld by appeals court" August 20, 2010