The law firm of Baron & Budd, P.C., is announcing a settlement reached with six defendants on behalf of the family of an electrician who died as a result of his workplace exposure to asbestos. Baron & Budd’s client was exposed to asbestos products manufactured by Houston-based Union Carbide Corp.; Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific Corp.; San Carlos, Calif.- based Kelly-Moore Paint Co. Inc.; Orange, Calif.-based Hamilton Materials Inc.; Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Gypsum Co. Inc.; and Valley Forge, Penn.- based CertainTeed Corp. The settlement for family of the Santa Clara, Calif. gentleman was negotiated by attorney Eric Brown from Baron & Budd’s Beverly Hills office, Patrick DeBlase, a partner in Beverly Hills’ Kiesel, Boucher & Larson LLP, and Anthony Vieira of Los Angeles’ Law Offices of Anthony E. Vieira.
“This is a significant settlement, and the attorneys are very pleased to be able to secure this award for the family,” says Russell W. Budd, managing shareholder of Baron & Budd. “This gentleman was a hard worker who provided for his wife and grandson, and we hope today’s settlement will help them move forward with their lives.” The gentleman followed his father’s footsteps by working as an electrician and construction subcontractor in the Santa Clara area for more than 40 years. He was the sole provider for his wife and their minor grandson.
In March 2005, Baron & Budd’s client went to the doctor after experiencing a variety of health problems that were diagnosed as symptoms of mesothelioma, a deadly cancer of the lining of the lungs caused by asbestos exposure. He died in May 2005 at the age of 62, less than six weeks after his diagnosis. Attorneys for his family were prepared to show jurors how he was exposed to a variety of asbestos products manufactured by the defendant companies from 1964 to 1995. Documents in the case showed that the defendants knew about the dangers of asbestos for years, but failed to protect him from being exposed and failed to warn him about the deadly side effects of his exposure.
The settlement was reached on April 27, 2007, only one day before opening statements in Judge Charlotte Woodlard’s San Francisco Superior Court.
