A jury in Newport News, VA arrived at a verdict last month requiring just under $6 million to be paid to the widow of Robert Hardick, a man who died of mesothelioma in March of 2009. Robert served in the United States Navy as a petty officer for some two decades, working in shipyards and at sea between the 1950′s and the 1970′s. Both at sea and onshore Robert was required to work in environments contaminated with airborne asbestos, a toxic substance known to cause the disease which took his life.
While strict state and federal regulations apply to the use of asbestos in present times, the substance was widely used in a variety of industries throughout most of the twentieth century. Its availability, cost effectiveness, ease of fabrication and incredible insulating and heat retarding properties made it a commonplace raw material within the ship building industry. Between high pressure rated, heat resistant gaskets, pipe insulation, fire retardant fabrics and more, sailors like Robert Hardick often worked with asbestos on a day to day basis.
Asbestos is an incredibly fibrous substance. Each piece of the dangerous material, whether it’s fabric, board, tile or anything else, is constituted of millions of tiny, microscopic hair-like fibers. When the material is handled and aggravated, these fibers can be released into the air and subsequently inhaled or ingested accidentally. Asbestos fibers pass through the lung or intestinal lining where they then become trapped in the mesothelium, a soft tissue that surrounds the body’s organs. The tissue scarring caused on the mesothelium can develop into malignant tumors years or even decades later. Sadly, once fully developed, mesothelioma is an aggressive and invariably terminal disease.
The defendants in the case were two separate companies which supplied asbestos products to the United States Navy. John Crane, Inc., and Garlock Sealing Technologies were both shown to have known about the potential dangers of asbestos while distributing products that contained the toxic material. While Garlock Sealing Technologies settled out of court for an unknown amount, John Crane, Inc. was held liable for half of the total verdict – $2.99 million.
The jury’s decision demonstrates a rising, poignant awareness of the dangers of asbestos exposure. While the ill effects of asbestos have been understood for nearly a century, law suits against the asbestos industry just thirty years ago were intensely difficult and unlikely to succeed. Nowadays, however, cases like Robert Hardick’s are often won twenty to forty years after initial exposure to asbestos and even a year after the victim’s death.
Robert Hardick, a father of four who became a successful businessman after his military service, is survived by his wife Diane.
