Oliver D. Smith and Peggy Ann Bowen Smith v. Crane Company, et al.

Oliver D. Smith and Peggy Ann Bowen Smith sued Crane Corporation, Union Carbide and Hexion on a products liability theory claiming that defendants exposed him to asbestos when he worked as a pipefitter in the 1950s and 1960s. Plaintiffs claimed that defendants knew or should have known of the dangers associated with exposure to asbestos without warning him of the unreasonably dangerous nature of asbestos. Hexion owned the chemical plant where Mr. Smith worked from 1957 to 1964. Smith also worked at a Union Carbide facility. Smith, age 73, was diagnosed with mesothelioma nearly 50 years after he began working as a pipefitter for the defendant companies.

The defenses asserted by defendants are not available.

Plaintiffs' verdict for $8.2 million including $1.75 million for past pain and mental anguish, $1 million for future pain and mental anguish, $100,000 for past disfigurement, $100,000 for future disfigurement, $1 million past physical impairment, $1 million future physical, $715,000 past medical, $275,000 punitive damages against Hexion, and for Peggy Smith: $50,000 past loss of household services, $250,000 for future loss of household services, $1 million for past loss of consortium and $1 million future loss of consortium.

Dr. William Longo, asbestos expert; Dr. Richard Lemen, epidemiologist; and Dr. Samuel Hammar, pathologist

William Dyson, Jams Rasmusson, Fred Boelter, Donna Ringo

None