Lipsitz, Ponterio & Comerford recently obtained a $2.4 million settlement on behalf of a former steamfitter for injuries resulting from job-related exposure to asbestos. Our client was diagnosed with mesothelioma in July 2011 at the age of sixty-four.  He brought suit against several companies responsible for the sale, manufacture and distribution of a variety of asbestos-containing products. Due to the confidential nature of this settlement, the plaintiff’s family cannot disclose the names of the settling parties nor the amount each company contributed to the overall settlement.

Beginning in 1969, our client worked as a career steamfitter for Rochester Gas & Electric in Rochester, New York. As a steamfitter, he was exposed to a variety of asbestos-containing materials, including thermal insulation and internal asbestos-containing components found in the equipment he repaired and maintained. Our client’s work as a steamfitter also involved the installation and removal of asbestos-containing gaskets on a variety of equipment, including valves, pumps, steam traps, soot blowers and compressors. Our client retired in 1999 and was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2011.

After a year-long battle with mesothelioma, our client passed away in 2012. At the time of his death, he was living in Ashland, Ohio. He was married; had two children and five grandchildren. He honorably served in the Navy during the Vietnam War.  He was a second-generation steamfitter who worked at various Rochester Gas & Electric stations, including the Bebee station.

Lipsitz, Ponterio & Comerford lawyers, Michael A. Ponterio, John P. Comerford, and Joseph T. Kremer represented our client, and after a week and a half long trial with a valve manufacturer, the case was fully resolved. Our client’s mesothelioma was caused by exposure to equipment, including internal components composed of asbestos, which were manipulated by our client in connection with his work as a steamfitter. He was present and participated in outages during which asbestos-containing gaskets, packing and insulation materials were removed and replaced. Removing and reapplying asbestos-containing materials gives rise to airborne asbestos dust and fibers, which our client inhaled.