Electrician, Wife Awarded $4.2 Million for Exposure to Union Carbide's Bakelite Product

SAN FRANCISCO - A jury in San Francisco has awarded a former electrician and his wife $4.2 million for the electrician's alleged exposure to a Union Carbide product that contained asbestos. Trinchese, et al. v. A.P. Green Industries, Inc., et al., No. 400787 (Calif. Super. Ct., San Francisco Cty.)

In what is believed to be the first-ever verdict involving Union Carbide's Bakelite electrical products, the jury on July 15 found that the company was negligent in manufacturing the product that caused Victor Trinchese's exposure and subsequent development of mesothelioma.

Trinchese, 61, alleged that he was exposed to Bakelite while working …