PR Newswire | An Upstate New York jury has returned a $12.25 million verdict to the family of a St. Lawrence County woman who died from mesothelioma cancer, finding that Vanderbilt Mining knew for generations about asbestos contamination in its talc mines but failed to protect neighbours from asbestos exposure in the air.
The verdict, which includes $4.5 million for pain and suffering and $7.75 million in punitive damages, is the largest known jury award in St. Lawrence County. It is believed to be a first-of-its-kind finding in U.S. courts for environmental exposure to asbestos.
Over four weeks of trial, jurors heard testimony that Vanderbilt Mining knew about cancer-causing asbestos in its New York talc mines since 1947 but engaged in a decades-long pattern of denials and misstatements about the dangers to workers, neighbours, and end-users of its products.
Between 1964 and 1984, Anna Bishop lived in Balmat, New York, less than a mile from Vanderbilt mining operations. Ms. Bishop began showing symptoms of mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, in October 2022. She died in January 2023, at the age of 78, after enduring severe medical complications and agonizing treatment to remove fluid from around her lungs.
The case is Linda F. Weaver, as Administratrix of the estate of Anna Bishop v. Vanderbilt Minerals, LLC, Case No. EFCV-22-164221, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York County of St. Lawrence.
