Date of Trial: November 21, 2005 through January 6, 2006 Edward R. Hugo for Defendants Harowitz & Tigerman and Law Offices of Greg Sheffer for Plaintiffs Judge: Honorable Kevin McCarthy, SFSC Dept. 306 Resolution: Dana Corporation dismissed after jury selection. Pneumo Abex Corporation settled at the close of the evidence (plaintiffs blackboarded more than $6,000,000 in economic damages). Plaintiffs in this wrongful death mesothelioma case were decedent Charles Padilla's registered domestic partner, Mark Grisez, and his mother Regina Padilla. Decedent's cause of death on December 1, 2003 from malignant pleural mesothelioma was not disputed at trial. Plaintiffs claimed that decedent was exposed to asbestos from automotive friction products through his work as parts handler, maintenance and sales person while working as a teenager at Romero New Holland Ford Tractor during the years 1972-1978. Mr. Padilla's work at Romero's involved stocking and handling new and used brake shoes and gaskets, as well as cleaning up the resulting dust with a broom. He was additionally exposed as a bystander to work by mechanics when he brought them parts and/or they visited the parts shop in their dusty, dirty work clothes to pick up parts and/or to socialize with customers and other workers. Later, Decedent potentially had bystander exposure to asbestos in construction products (joint and finishing compounds, flooring, and insulation materials) while he was working as a hospital administrator during various remodel construction projects at various southern California hospitals. Jury Survey: The jury overwhelmingly reported that they would have returned a complete defense verdict as to Pneumo Abex Corporation in post-trial interviews. The jurors either felt that the defense had demonstrated that decedent's mesothelioma was idiopathic or that decedent had not been exposed to the defendant's products. Plaintiffs' Trial Witnesses: Samuel Hammar, pathologist; Barry Horn, pulmonologist; Phil Fezler, brake remanufacturer; John Templin, certified industrial hygienist; Robert Johnson, forensic economist; Arnold Brody, PhD. Defendant's Trial Witnesses: Victor Roggli, pathologist; Charles Redinger, certified industrial hygienist; William Hughson, M.D., Ph.D (occupational medicine, pulmonology and epidemiology). (Mark D. Grisez, Individually and as Successor-in-Interest to the Estate of Charles Padilla, Decedent, and Regina Padilla v. AC and S, Inc.,
San Francisco Superior Court, Case No. 03-421181, 1/06)