Judge vacates part of $90M asbestos judgment

Associated Press

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — A central Illinois judge’s decision has reduced the jury award in a 2011 asbestos case from almost $90 million to $8.4 million.

The lawsuit was filed in the case of 59-year-old pipe fitter Charles Gillenwater, who was exposed to asbestos and contracted a rare type of cancer called mesothelioma.

A jury found four companies responsible in Gillenwater’s case. But a McLean County judge vacated the judgments against three of those companies. The judge let stand a judgment against John Crane Inc. for $8.4 million.

Lawyers for the victim’s widow tell The (Bloomington) Pantagraph that they’re disappointed the judge decided evidence was insufficient to show a conspiracy among the companies to keep information about the harmful potential of asbestos from the public.

The lawyers say they plan to appeal.