Georgia-Pacific LLC was hit with a $9.4 million verdict after a Florida jury found the manufacturing company partially liable for the plaintiff’s development of asbestos lung cancer.

Plaintiff Roy T. filed the asbestos lung cancer lawsuit against Georgia-Pacific, alleging that working with their asbestos containing products decades ago caused him to be diagnosed with mesothelioma, which is a deadly form of lung cancer.

The Miami jury set the plaintiff’s damage awarded at $17 million, but stated that Roy was 15 percent responsible for the asbestos exposure while Georgia-Pacific was 55 percent responsible.

The jury later found that Roy’s employer at the time of his exposure was 30 percent to blame, but that company was not a named defendant in the asbestos lung cancer lawsuit. 

While Georgia-Pacific will only pay $9.5 million, it may be safe to assume that the rest of the $17 million plaintiff award will be supplied by the other liable company. 

According to the asbestos cancer lawsuit, plaintiff Roy worked on a construction project in Saudi Arabia and Georgia-Pacific products were being shipped there by the ton.

Roy worked as a painting supervisor and was required to sand down walls before painting. The plaintiff claims he was covered in white dust every day. Roy also states that he used a Georgia-Pacific joint compound during the construction project.

Georgia-Pacific counsel argued that the plaintiff also ran a painting business for 30 years after the project in Saudi Arabia so there’s no proof that the asbestos exposure was caused by their materials when he could have been exposed from other sources.

Plaintiff Roy’s treating physician testified during the asbestos mesothelioma trial and informed the jury that efforts to remove the tumors were unsuccessful as they have developed close to his heart. The doctor further explained to the jurors that Roy is unlikely to be alive a year from now.

Asbestos Exposure Health Risks

Asbestos fibers are virtually impossible to see with the naked eye as they are 700 times smaller than a human fiber. This makes inadvertently inhaling the material difficult to avoid without proper safety equipment.

Asbestos mesothelioma occurs when the tiny, jagged fibers are inhaled and stored in the lungs eventually leading to the cancerous development in cells. Asbestos lung cancer can take decades to develop, but can spread rapidly throughout the lungs and into the heart within months.

Asbestos lung cancer is usually in an advanced stage of development when patients are diagnosed; however, there are some mesothelioma symptoms to be aware of including:

• Retaining fluids
• Shortness of breath
• Coughing
• Abdominal swelling
• Chest pain
• Fatigue

Studies have found that asbestos exposure is responsible for 12,000 to 15,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. Most often, professionals who work with the cheap material on a regular basis have a greater risk of developing asbestos lung cancer.

Asbestos Mesothelioma Lawsuits

Thousands of new asbestos lung cancer lawsuits are filed each year in the U.S. In general, plaintiffs allege that they were not adequately warned of the risks of working with asbestos. Some plaintiffs claim that they were not provided the proper safety equipment needed in order to avoid developing mesothelioma.

More than 600,000 plaintiffs have filed asbestos exposure lawsuits making it one of the largest litigation movements in U.S. history.

The Asbestos Lung Cancer Lawsuit is Case No. 2014-CA-022141, in the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida.