Kaiser Gypsum Inc. Reaches Settlement in Asbestos Case

John Dachauer, who worked in and around San Francisco, California, as plasterer for forty-two years, will receive $2.1 million in a recent settlement with Kaiser Gypsum Company and Hanson Permanente Cement, Inc.

Dachauer was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2006. In the lawsuit, Dachauer alleged that asbestos was an ingredient of the stucco and other plaster products he worked with between 1955 and 1997, which were sold by Kaiser Gypsum and Hanson Permanente.

Kaiser Gypsum has been a defendant in several asbestos lawsuits over the past several years. In 1999, a jury in Portland, Oregon, awarded $1.5 million dollars to Robert Bush, a former hod carrier diagnosed with asbestosis and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer known to result from asbestos exposure. Evidence in the trial showed that Kaiser management was aware of the health risks associated with asbestos exposure no later than 1965, and possibly as far back as 1952.

Bush worked as a hod carrier between 1956 and 1986.

More recently in May of 2006, a San Francisco jury awarded Robert Johnsen and his wife Marites $5.9 million after only two days of deliberation. Mr. Johnsen, who was not a smoker, was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma and lung cancer in January of 2005–both of which were attributable to chrysotile asbestos fibers used in the company’s drywall products.

Yet another case was one in which Norma Jean Reivitt of Dallas County, Texas, sued Kaiser Gypsum over the death of her husband Richard, a former pipefitter who was diagnosed with mesothelioma in January of 2003 and died ten months later. The jury in this case awarded Reivitt $650,000 after only seven hours of deliberation.

In their verdict, members of the jury found Kaiser Gypsum 100% liable for Richard Reivitt’s cancer and resultant death. It was determined that Kaiser Gypsum had known of the health risks of asbestos exposure as early as 1972, yet deliberately and maliciously failed to take steps in protecting employees.

Kaiser Gypsum products now known to have contained asbestos include Finishing Compound and Joint Compound, used in drywall installation.

Sources

Dallas County Courts. Norma Jean Reivitt v. Kaiser Gypsum, Cause No. 5935-C (2005)

Multnomah Country Circuit Court. Robert Bush v. Kaiser Gypsum, Case No. 03-1863 (1999)

PR Newswire. “Baron & Budd P.C. Announces California Asbestos Settlement” Insurance Newsnet, 24 July 2007

San Francisco Superior Court. Robert Johnsen and Marites Johnson v. Kaiser Gypsum Company, Case No. 442973 (2006)

Bookmark This Article:
| del.icio.us: | Digg: | Technorati: | Newsvine: | Reddit: | Furl: | | Stumble Upon: | Yahoo!: | Google: |