Jury Enters $16.4 Million Verdict for 3 LIRR Mechanics

NEW YORK -- A jury has awarded $16.4 million in the retrial of an asbestos case, more than 20 times the amount that was entered at the conclusion of the original proceedings. Harrington v. LIRR, No. 26113/1996; Velez-Zapata v. LIRR, No. 26112/1996; Aguirre v. LIRR, No. 26111/1996 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., Kings Cty.).

The May verdict entered by the New York Supreme Court for Kings County jury was the second time the claims of the former Long Island Rail Road mechanics had ended in a plaintiffs' verdict -- in 1999, a jury awarded $800,000 to the three plaintiffs, but the case …