$55.5 Million Awarded to Construction Worker with Mesothelioma

El PASO, Texas - A jury in El Paso, Texas, has awarded an asbestos plaintiff more than $55 million in what is believed to be the largest single-plaintiff award ever. Hernandez v. Kelly-Moore Paint Co., Inc., No. 20003559 (Texas Dist. Ct., El Paso Cty.).

The verdict was rendered Aug. 29 by 12 members of an El Paso County District Court jury, and included some $40 million in compensatory damages and $15.5 million in punitive damages to plaintiff Alfredo Hernandez and several of his family members.

Hernandez claimed he was exposed to asbestos in the early- to mid-1970s while working residual …