The families of 11 workers employed by Anova Holding AG and Becon AG were awarded a $90.5 million in damages in an asbestos lawsuit against the two Switzerland-based companies.

The families’ asbestos wrongful death lawsuit alleged that the 11 individuals who worked at New Jersey insulation plants died from asbestos-related illness contracted while on the job.

Default judgments on Anova and Becon were issued last month by New Jersey Superior Court Judge Ana Viscomi after the companies neglected to respond to the wrongful death lawsuits filed against them by the New Jersey families. Anova and Becon also failed to send legal representatives during the week-long legal hearing regarding the wrongful death allegations.

According to the asbestos lawsuit, Anova and Becon allegedly provided New Jersey’s Johns Manville insulation plant with asbestos. Both Swiss companies were served and further notified of the asbestos wrongful death lawsuits following procedures outlined in international treaties.

Viscomi awarded damages ranging from $4 million to $15 million to each family that filed asbestos wrongful death lawsuits from 2008 to 2011. However, whether the families will ever receive the money is still in question.

Asbestos lawsuits are being filed by hundreds each year and not just by those who worked in positions were asbestos or asbestos products were used. Within the last few years, there have been several mesothelioma asbestos lung cancer lawsuits filed by spouses and children who allege that they developed asbestos-related diseases from secondary exposure to asbestos fibers.

What is Asbestos?

Asbestos is a mineral found in nature that was commonly mined and used as building materials since the late 1800s until it was banned in the mid-1980s. Even before it was banned, there was research that demonstrated the negative health effects of asbestos exposure.

According to a medical study published in 1935, “Medical researchers first made a probable causal relationship between exposure to asbestos and lung cancer.” In light of this and several other research studies conducted since then, the U.S. government and other nations have classified asbestos and asbestos materials as human carcinogen. Its use has been extremely limited and heavily monitored.

Many individuals may been exposed to asbestos, both at work and at home, over periods of decades without their knowledge. Because asbestos related diseases like mesothelioma asbestos lung cancer have long latency periods, most individuals affected will not be diagnosed or express symptoms of asbestos related lung cancer until 15-35 years after their first exposure to the asbestos fibers.

Occupational Exposure to Asbestos

Individuals in certain trades and professions are at a markedly higher risk of mesothelioma lung cancer. These occupations include:

• Shipyards workers
• Auto mechanics
• Paper mill workers
• Construction workers
• Textile workers
• Insulation installers
• Sheet metal workers
• Roofers
• Toll collectors
• Tilers
• Linotype technicians
• Plumbers

In these occupations, working individuals may have had prolonged exposure to asbestos in enclosed spaces with little or no protective gear, which increases the number of asbestos fibers inhaled and trapped within the lung lining.

Because these individuals were allegedly exposed to asbestos without their knowledge and were not given sufficient protective gear, many workers and their families have filed mesothelioma asbestos lung cancer lawsuits.

In general, asbestos lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions.

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