Silica Dust Exposure Lawsuit Filed by Artificial Stone Cutter Left With Severe Lung Damage

Workers are provided with ineffective respiratory equipment, despite stone-cutting industry knowing of silicosis dangers, lawsuit claims.

Artificial stone countertop manufacturers have known for years that silica dust exposure could cause severe lung damage, yet failed to provide stone cutters with proper respiratory protection, according to a lawsuit filed by a man who worked in the industry for nearly a quarter of a century.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by Erick Vilca Ttito and his wife, Roxana Bruno Pinto, in California Superior Court in San Francisco County on June 16, naming dozens of companies and individuals linked to the manufacture, sale and distribution of artificial stone and quartz countertop products as defendants.

From 2000 to 2024, Ttito indicates he worked for various stone cutting companies throughout the state, for which he cut, ground, drilled, edged, polished, fabricated and installed stone countertops and similar products. 

However, like a growing number of other stone cutters throughout California who have filed silicosis lawsuits in recent months, Ttito indicates his employers knew about the risks of silicosis from silica dust exposure, but failed to provide their workers with adequately safe work areas or protective respiratory gear.

Silicosis is an irreversible lung disease that is only known to be caused by routine exposure and inhalation of silica dust, which most often comes from cutting artificial stone products. Inhalation of the dust can cause lung inflammation and scarring, and eventually can develop into lung failure, and the need for lung transplant surgery.

According to Ttito’s complaint, his years of working as a stone cutter have left him with lung disease characterized by pulmonary nodules, silicosis, pulmonary fibrosis, and progressive massive fibrosis, among other types of lung damage. The lawsuit indicates these are all known to be associated with silica dust exposure, suggesting that even when he was given respiratory protection, it was not sufficient to prevent adverse health effects.

“Plaintiff, Erick Vilca Ttito, was first diagnosed with silicosis in or about April 30, 205. The pathological effect of Plaintiffs’ disease occurred without perceptible trauma, and Plaintiff was blamelessly ignorant of its cause.”

–Ttito and Pinto v. 3M Company et al.

However, leading businesses in the industry, including artificial stone manufacturers, knew about the actual health risks for years, and chose profits over protecting their workers. Ttito’s complaint notes that the U.S. government began issuing warnings about the risk of silicosis in foundry workers as early as 1917, and decades of subsequent research and safety alerts should have made the dangers well known to the stone cutting industry.

“The health risks associated with exposure to crystalline silica dust have been known to the stone industry for centuries, indeed for millennia. Evidence of occupational silicosis dates all the way back to ancient Egypt and Greece. Stonecutters, builders, and masons all exhibited signs of silicosis, as they were the workers who built these ancient cities.”

–Ttito and Pinto v. 3M Company et al.

Ttito presents claims of negligence, failure to warn, design defect, fraudulent concealment, breach of implied warranties, and negligence, against equipment and stone manufacturers, as well as safety equipment and respirator manufacturers. He and his wife are seeking both compensatory and punitive damages, as well as damages for loss of consortium.

Silicosis Lawsuits

Ttito’s complaint is similar to stone cutter silicosis lawsuits filed by other workers in the industry, who have worked for years in frequent contact with silica dust. 

Each of the claims present similar allegations, that employers and manufacturers failed to provide adequate warnings and protections to workers who were exposed to silica dust. This alleged negligence has led to severe and sometimes fatal respiratory conditions, including chronic silicosis.

Plaintiffs argue that despite longstanding knowledge of the risks associated with inhaling silica particles, sufficient measures were not taken to educate or protect workers, violating occupational safety regulations.

As a result, lawyers across the United States are providing free case evaluations for individuals who were exposed to silica dust throughout their careers, and have subsequently been diagnosed with silicosis.