Jury Awards $25 million to Isle of Wight Man Dying From Asbestos Exposure | Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp

A former Newport News, Virginia (VA)  shipyard worker who is dying from exposure to asbestos while working for oil giant Exxon Mobil has been awarded $25 million by a jury, This is one of the largest jury verdicts ever handed down in a Virginia (VA) personal injury case.

Rubert  Minton, 72, of Carrollton in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, worked on commercial vessels at Newport News Shipbuilding between 1966 and 1977. He worked on 17 Exxon tankers. Decades later, he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a deadly asbestos-related cancer that doctors said was linked to breathing asbestos fibers while at the yard. He has a life expectancy of about two more years and faces a painful death, according to his lawyers.

Our thoughts are with Minton, his family and anyone who has died from this terrible disease.

Our firm has worked tirelessly for justice for victims who were exposed to asbestos and suffered the consequences. We have highlighted how railroad companies like Norfolk Southern (NS), CSX, and Conrail knew about asbestos and its connection to mesothelioma cancer, decades ago but failed to act. We helped secure an $8.6 million jury verdict for a railroad worker brakeman/switchman who lost his life to lung cancer following a five year battle, after being exposed to asbestos, diesel fumes, and radiation during his 40 year career as a brakeman/switchman with L & N/CSX.

In some case where an employer is no longer in existence, lawsuits have been brought against the manufacturers of the asbestos. The family of a forklift operator who spent several years hauling bags of asbestos at a Baltimore, Maryland (MD), National Gypsum warehouse received a $1.2 million verdict last year against the maker of the asbestos following the man’s death from mesothelioma.

Companies that make inherently harmful products have a duty to inform users of the risks those products pose.

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