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The widow of a former shipyard worker who died of asbestos-related mesothelioma was awarded $10.4 million in damages on Wednesday by a Newport News jury.
Wanda Jones filed the wrongful death lawsuit against three manufacturing companies after her husband died last year. Buddy Jones was diagnosed with the deadly cancer after getting sick in late 2004. He died within a year of the diagnosis.
Buddy Jones had worked at the Newport News Shipbuilding for four years in the 1960s before returning to college to pursue computer programming. The shipyard did not stop using asbestos-laden products until the mid-1980s.
Older workers are only now beginning to see the effects of asbestos exposure, primarily because the cancer it causes typically lies dormant for 20 to 50 years. Buddy Jones was one of those workers. He was 60 years old when he died.
Robert Hatten, Wanda Jones'' attorney, said the verdict was a landmark. Three companies, including John Crane Inc., will have to split the judgment. John Crane has refused to settle other asbestos cases.
A lot of these companies now accept responsibility and settle these cases regularly. I hope this verdict will make companies like John Crane change their corporate attitude, he said.
Wanda Jones said, At least there''s been some justice and recognition for what he went through, certainly through no fault of his own. He just went to work and did what he was trained to do on the job.
Thousands of workers were exposed to asbestos at the shipyard. Dr. John C. Maddox, who testified at the trial, said he has seen approximately 500 patients with mesothelioma in his practice.
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