South Carolina Jury Reaches Defense Verdict for Ford Motor Co. in Benzene Case

BEAUFORT, S.C. –– A South Carolina jury has reached a defense verdict for Ford Motor Co. in the retrial of a former automotive mechanic who claimed that he developed multiple myeloma as a result of exposure to benzene in the company’s lubricant products.

The South Carolina Court of Common Pleas in Beaufort County jury reached the verdict on November 10. Judge Carmen Mullen presided over the trial.

The case originally went to trial in February, but –– after hearing eight days of testimony –– jurors informed Judge Mullen that they had been approached by a deputy in the Beaufort …