Florida Jury Returns Verdict for John Crane in Mesothelioma Case

PALM BEACH, Fla. — A federal jury in Florida has rejected claims asserted on behalf of a former U.S. Navy boiler tender who was allegedly exposed to asbestos from products manufactured by John Crane Inc.

Jurors in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida took just over an hour to decide Sept. 29 that exposure to John Crane’s gasket and packing materials was not the legal cause of plaintiff William Hays’s mesothelioma. Nor was the defendant’s alleged negligence in failing to warn of asbestos-related hazards associated with the products to blame for Hays’s injury, the jury determined.