San Francisco Jury Awards Record $10.3 Million in Paraoccupational Exposure Case

SAN FRANCISCO - A California jury has awarded $10.3 million in compensatory damages to an elderly woman who developed mesothelioma after working two years in an Oakland shipyard and spending nearly thirty years handling her husband's asbestos-laden overalls. Perez v. Owens-Illinois, No. 301375 (Calif. Super. Ct., San Francisco Cty.).

The verdict, which does not include punitive damages, is the largest compensatory award ever in the history of California's asbestos personal injury litigation, according to Bruce Jackson, the attorney who represented plaintiff Christine Perez.

Owens-Illinois, the only defendant that remained after more than two dozen others settled out for a combined …