Jury Enters $5 Million Verdict in Asbestos Case Against Equipment Supplier Mar-Dustrial

PORTLAND, Ore. –– An Oregon jury has awarded $5 million to asbestos plaintiffs at the conclusion of a trial against gasket supplier Mar-Dustrial, finding the lone remaining defendant at the time of the verdict 22 percent liable for the plaintiff’s injuries.

Judge Jerry B. Hodson of the Oregon Circuit Court for Multnomah County presided over the six-day trial, which ended on May 12 after one day of jury deliberations.

Plaintiffs Charles Eastridge and his wife, Pat, asserted the claims, contending that Charles Eastridge’s work at a planer mill required him to work with dry kilns and boilers. During the course …