Substantial Verdict Upheld in Unique “Bystander Exposure” Case

LOS ANGELES – Eighteen months after winning a substantial wrongful death verdict in Los Angeles Superior Court against Stamford, Conn.-based Crane Co. (NYSE: CR) on behalf of the family of a U.S. Navy veteran who died from his exposure to asbestos, Baron & Budd, P.C. today announced the verdict has been affirmed by the California Court of Appeals.

Attorneys John Langdoc and Renée Melançon from Dallas’ Baron & Budd represented the wife and adult children of a Navy veteran who died in August 2006 from mesothelioma, an incurable cancer caused by asbestos exposure. The lawsuit itself was unique in that this man contracted the disease through “bystander exposure” and Crane Co. was not a manufacturer of asbestos products, but a user of asbestos components.

“John, Renée and our entire trial team have not stopped working to prove, first to the jury, then to the Court of Appeals, how the defendants could have prevented this terrible tragedy,” says Russell W. Budd, managing shareholder of Baron & Budd. “The Court ruled unanimously that a company cannot use a dangerous component, then disclaim responsibility for the harm it inflicts on innocent people.”

The plaintiff was exposed to asbestos while working as a gunner’s mate in the U.S. Navy from 1955 to 1957. Crane Co., a manufacturer of industrial products with more than 10,000 employees worldwide, previously manufactured valves with asbestos gaskets and asbestos packing materials that were used aboard his ship, the U.S.S. Bremerton. Crane Co. also sold its own line of asbestos-containing gasket materials from 1920 until 1972.

The dangers of asbestos have been widely known since the early 1900s, but Crane Co. continued to manufacture and sell asbestos-containing products throughout the last century without researching asbestos dangers, testing the products for asbestos hazards, or warning end users, according to Melançon.

“To have exposed our country’s selfless military members to this dangerous substance was inexcusable,” said Melançon. “On behalf of this family, we are proud to have won and upheld the first successful asbestos verdict against Crane Co.”

The effects of asbestos exposure, including the onset of diseases like mesothelioma and asbestosis, can take years or even decades to surface. Nearly 50 years passed before this Navy veteran began exhibiting symptoms of mesothelioma. He was diagnosed in April 2005, and lived only 16 months after learning he had the disease.