After two weeks of trial, the family of Edward Merwitz, a deceased mesothelioma victim, was awarded $7.25 million in a verdict against nine asbestos manufacturers. Mr. Merwitz, of Langhorne, was diagnosed with the deadly disease in January, 2010, and passed away that summer.
According to the suit, Mr. Merwitz was exposed to asbestos while working on warships at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in the late 1960s, where he regularly handled products containing the hazardous material, such as gaskets, packing, pumps, electric motors, turbines, control boxes, and electric wire. Mr. Merwitz also came into contact with contaminated pipe covering and other types of insulation, but he received no warning or protective equipment.
Rockbestos, one of the defendants, had offered a $2,500 settlement prior to the trial’s commencement. The plaintiffs, Mr. Merwitz’s wife and two daughters, declined. At the time of the verdict, Rockbestos was the only remaining defendant; the rest had already settled. Rockbestos claimed that a witness had incorrectly identified a product as theirs, and that their electric wire did not contain asbestos but a different, safer fiber. They also argued that Mr. Merwitz could not have been exposed to their products frequently enough to satisfy requirements of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
None of the jurors accepted the company’s explanations. As a result of the verdict, Rockbestos will pay its share of the $7.2 million compensation, which awards $3.6 million in survival damages and $3.6 million for wrongful death.
“Mrs. Merwitz and her two daughters were ecstatic. They feel that justice was done,” said Lawrence R. Cohen, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys. He added, “This was a bitterly contested case over the full course of the two-week trial. As other defendants settled, it was clear that Rockbestos intended to assert all of its defenses, and to let the jury decide the case.”