Miss. Jury Awards Former Welder $1.855 Million

HAZLEHURST, Miss. - A 12-member Mississippi Circuit Court jury has awarded $1.855 million to a former construction worker who alleged that years of exposure to manganese fumes in welding products eventually caused Parkinson-like manganism. Stanley McLemore v. BOC Group, et al., No. 2005-0378 (Miss. Cir. Ct., Copiah Cty.).

Sources said the jurors, who were empanelled on Nov. 3, deliberated for approximately an hour-and-a-half before reaching a unanimous verdict on Nov. 21.

The jury awarded $855,000 in economic damages and $1 million in non-economic damages for failure-to-warn claims against the only two remaining defendants, ESAB Group Inc. and Lincoln Electric …