Appeals Court Affirms $900,000 Verdict, Exclusion of Sales Records

LOS ANGELES - A California Court of Appeal has affirmed a $900,000 verdict awarded to a former paper machinist who developed mesothelioma 35 years after working with asbestos-containing dryer felts at a facility in Michigan. McCarthy v. AstenJohnson, Inc., No. B162295 (Calif. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty.).

In an opinion released May 26, the Second District California Court of Appeal held that a trial court properly excluded evidence related to the defendant felt manufacturers' sale of its asbestos-containing product to Hawthorne Paper Company, where Douglas McCarthy worked during the summer of 1966. The evidence, which the trial court determined was …