Silica Plaintiff's Future Award to be Offset by $400,000 Deal with Employer

RALEIGH, Miss. - A judge in Mississippi has refused to dismiss silica claims by a plaintiff who filed three separate lawsuits for the same alleged injury, but has agreed to offset any future award by $400,000 the rail worker received from a settlement reached with his employer. Yelverton v. Pangborn Corp., et al., No. 2007-150 (Miss. Cir. Ct., Smith Cty.).

Smith County Circuit Court Judge Eddie H. Bowen ruled Oct. 8 that defendants in a 2007 silica case filed by James Yelverton have been prejudiced by their inability to join Illinois Central Railroad Co. in the case after Yelverton sued …