According to recent reports, a New York jury recently awarded $2.25 million to the family of a man who passed away from mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer caused by exposure to asbestos and the man’s family believes it was the fault of his former employer’s that he passed away so suddenly.
The Erie County Court jury reportedly ruled that Fisher Controls International was partly to blame for the man’s illness and premature death. The man, Ronald Drabczyk, was formerly employed at Hooker Chemical in Buffalo, New York. During his career he worked repairing control valves. Valves that reportedly contained the toxic substance asbestos and were manufactured by Fisher.
Family of Deceased Man Compensated for Loss
The mesothelioma lawsuit resulted included an award of $1.5 million in compensatory damages for the Drabczck’s family. It also includes an additional $750,000 in punitive damages, an award that was issued after the jury discovered Fisher’s failed to warn any of their workers about the risks associated with asbestos exposure.
Even though the jury only found Fisher was five percent responsible for Drabczyk’s asbestos exposure, the reckless endangerment discovery that was later made by the jury makes Fisher 100% responsible under the New York state law.
Drabczck reportedly overhauled Fisher-manufactured control valves at the Hooker Chemical plant in New York for over a decade. He passed away from mesothelioma on November 29, 2005.
