Ford Motor Co. v. Boomer

736 S.W.2d 724 (2013)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Lokey was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2005 and died in 2007 due to complications related to his disease. Lokey served as a Virginia State Trooper and in 1965 or 1966, for approximately seven and a half to eight years, his duties required that he observe vehicle inspections wherein mechanics used compressed air to blow out brake debris (dust) to allow for a visual inspection of the brakes. He observed vehicle inspections in approximately 70 garages a month, for five to six hours a day, ten days each month. Lokey testified to standing within ten feet of the inspectors who were blowing out brake linings with compressed air. He also recalled breathing in visible dust in the garages. He was not provided protective clothing or masks or warned that breathing brake dust was harmful to his health. Rotations included supervising inspections at a Ford dealership. The vast majority of the cars being inspected at the garages he visited were American-made cars. Lokey could not identify the type of brake linings being inspected. Lokey could not identify the type of brake linings being inspected. The Administrator of Lokey's estate (P) presented circumstantial evidence that Bendix manufactured asbestos-containing friction products for brakes, including primary brake linings manufactured by Bendix that were approximately fifty percent asbestos material. P also testified that Bendix likely held one hundred percent of the market for Oldsmobile up to the late 1960s or early 1970s, until front disc brakes were phased in. He testified that they also began providing materials for Fords in 1955 and had one hundred percent of the new Ford market share for the 15 years prior to 1983. He also stated that he believed they had one hundred percent of the replacement market for brake linings for Oldsmobiles and Fords in the late 1960s. Medical experts testified that chrysotile asbestos, the type of asbestos found in brakes, can cause mesothelioma and that there is no safe level of chrysotile asbestos exposure above background levels in the ambient air. Lokey also worked as a pipefitter at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for slightly over a year in the early 1940s. He had no personal knowledge of any exposure to asbestos in the shipyard. D’s expert testified that there was no document evidence of developing mesothelioma from being around the brakes in cars, but there was documented evidence of increased risk of mesothelioma for those who worked around shipyards, both directly with asbestos material and also in its vicinity. A pathologist presented evidence of amosite asbestos fibers in Lokey's lung tissue. He opined that Lokey's profile was more consistent with a person who had exposure to amosite asbestos at a shipyard sixty years ago, than a person exposed to chrysotile brake products. That same doctor admitted that his investigation did not include the pleura of the lungs and that he opined that each and every exposure to asbestos above background level experienced by an individual is a substantial contributing factor in the development of mesothelioma. The jury awarded damages in the amount of $282,685.69. Ds appealed.