Mesothelioma Wrongful Death Lawsuit Results in $2.6 Million Verdict

An Illinois jury has awarded $2.6 million to the family of a woman who died as a result of mesothelioma caused by exposure to asbestos that her husband carried home on his clothing from a factory where he worked in the 1960s.

The Wrongful death lawsuit was filed by the family of Jean Holmes, who passed away in April 2006.

Jean’s husband, Donald Holmes, worked at the Union Asbestos and Rubber Company in Bloomington, Illinois from 1962 to 1963, where he came into contact with toxic asbestos fibers, which can cause mesothelioma, asbestosis and other serious diseases if they are inhaled.

According to the family’s mesothelioma lawsuit, Jean Holmes received second-hand asbestos exposure when she washed her husband’s clothing during the time. The family alleged that the corporate predecessors of Pneumo Abex LLC and Honeywell International, Inc. knew about the risks of asbestos exposure and failed to warn their workers or their family members about the hazards.

Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that occurs in the lining of the lungs and the chest. It is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos and breathing asbestos fibers, yet it is often not diagnosed until decades after exposure, when the cancer is at a very advanced stage.

Both direct and indirect exposure to asbestos has been shown to cause mesothelioma. If factory workers, construction workers, asbestos miners, ship builders or others who came into contact with asbestos carry the fibers home on their skin, clothing or in their hair, it could be the cause of a family member developing cancer.