Jury Awards Nearly $39 Million, Finds BorgWarner Liable for Asbestos-Containing Automotive Clutches

LOS ANGELES –– A California jury has awarded nearly $39 million to a former General Motors employee whose family said he was exposed to asbestos-containing clutches manufactured by BorgWarner.

On Aug. 14, the Los Angeles County Superior Court jury assessed the defendant 35 percent liability for the former worker’s mesothelioma. Judge Robert H. O’Brien presided over the four-week trial, which began on July 22.

BorgWarner was the lone remaining defendant at the time of the verdict.

The plaintiffs said that the decedent had worked at the General Motors Assembly Plant in Van Nuys, Calif., for nearly 30 years, starting …