Wrongful death due to mesothelioma. $8.87M. Los Angeles County.

Facts and Background

• Facts and Background:

  John Dennis Metzger died at the age of 73 of malignant, pleural mesothelioma, a preventable but always-fatal cancer of the lining of the lungs only caused by asbestos exposure.

  Mr. Metzger was exposed to asbestos during his work as a laborer for oil refineries in the early 1970s. He was also exposed to asbestos while working on a land survey crew at the City of Newport Beach in the 1980s where he was in close proximity to workers cutting asbestos cement pipe manufactured and installed by J-M Manufacturing Company, Inc. and George Dakovich & Son, Inc., respectively.

  Mr. Metzger is survived by his wife Gail and daughter Desiree Flaws and two grandchildren. Metzger's battle with mesothelioma was nearly a year long. He endured nine rounds of chemotherapy, which did not slow down his aggressive cancer.

• Plaintiff's Contentions:

  That asbestos from defendants' asbestos cement pipe increased decedent's risk of mesothelioma and caused his death. That defendants failed to warn about the hazards of asbestos, including the use of a power saw to cut it, which released substantial amounts of asbestos dust in the breathing zone of Mr. Metzger.

• Defendant's Contentions:

  That Metzger was not close enough to the cutting of asbestos cement pipe to be at an increased risk of mesothelioma from their products. Also, that Metzger's employer, the City of Newport Beach, should have protected Metzger from defendants' asbestos cement pipe.

  If J-MM sold any asbestos cement pipe to the decedent’s employer, the City of Newport Beach, or any of the contractors who installed asbestos cement pipe at the City of Newport Beach, it was because the City mandated and required the use of asbestos cement pipe on its premises. All asbestos cement pipe was built according to an industry standard. The City of Newport Beach was fully aware of the potential hazards associated with misuse of asbestos-cement pipe based on its status as an employer with legal obligations under the Federal and CAL OSHA asbestos standard. Further, the installation contracts produced by the City of Newport Beach prior to trial and introduced into evidence at trial showed that the City had received multiple installation guides from the various manufacturers and suppliers of asbestos cement pipe, including J-MM, illustrating the installation practices that must be employed to install the pipe safely, and specifically warning against cutting the pipe with an unventilated power saw, which was the work practice the decedent testified he observed others performing in his presence. The contracts provided by the City also required that the contractor follow OSHA and CAL-OSHA regulations. During the time period at issue (the 1980s), OSHA and CAL OSHA instructed employers against the use of an unventilated power tool on all asbestos containing products, including pipe. Defendant J-MM therefore argued at trial that, to the extent that the decedent was exposed to significant amounts of asbestos dust from others cutting asbestos cement pipe in his presence with an unventilated power tool as claimed, it was the fault of his employer and the contractors who engaged in misuse of the pipe, and also the City of Newport Beach, who, if the allegations were true, did not hire or monitor qualified parties to install the asbestos cement pipe.

  In addition, J-MM presented evidence at trial that the decedent, who worked as a surveyor, was an unforeseeable bystander as there was no logical reason for him to have been near others cutting asbestos cement pipe as he claimed. Further that the cutting of asbestos cement pipe was an unusual occurrence on a job site.