The family of a man who died from asbestos mesothelioma was awarded nearly $9 million in a recent asbestos side effects trial.

During this asbestos side effects trial, the family of Billy D., who worked for Bell Helicopter Textron for 37 years, argued that the company was guilty of gross negligence and put their employees in harm’s way.

This asbestos side effects trial is the end of a five-year-long case that began in 2012 after Billy was diagnosed with asbestos mesothelioma. He died in 2013.

Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lining of the lungs that is caused by exposure to asbestos.

At the asbestos side effects trial, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs accused Bell Helicopter Textron of being careless with its workers’ health and that they had exposed them to an “ungodly amount” of asbestos, according to Law360.

Billy had worked at the Bell plant in Hurst, Texas, beginning in 1962.

The attorney went on to say at the asbestos side effects trial that “[t]hey knew in 1955 that asbestos exposure could be fatal, but did not do anything until the mid ­1970s, and then only semi­ complied … [Billy] was the kind of worker who would do anything for his company. For Bell to have a total lack of regard for asbestos danger was absolutely heartbreaking to him.”

Allegedly, for many years Billy and other workers had no idea of the dangers of asbestos and did not wear respiratory protection. In the course of his daily work, Billy was often surrounded by clouds of dust containing asbestos.

Later, in the 1970s, Billy also worked as a contractor for local construction sites and was exposed to additional asbestos, according to this asbestos side effects trial. The family named those other companies as defendants, however they each settled with the family or were dismissed from the case.

Because the other defendants were not allowed to be brought up at asbestos side effects trial, Bell believes the jury did not get to hear the whole story. They think that the verdict might have been different if the jury had known Billy was exposed to additional asbestos over his lifetime.

A spokesperson for Bell said, “Unfortunately, at trial the jury was not permitted to hear about all the other sources of asbestos in [Billy’s] life, or all the claims his experts made about previous exposure caused by parties who settled prior to trial.”

The original mesothelioma lawsuit alleged that Bell did not warn Billy about all of the risks regarding asbestos, nor did they provide any protective gear. It also accused Bell of not putting warning labels on hazardous products, not implementing a proper safe handling plan, not using substitute material, not testing equipment and not recalling dangerous products.