FORT LAUDERDALE – A Florida state court jury awarded a woman $18 million in an asbestos case, saying brake dust was partly responsible for her cancer.
The lone defendant in the trial was Hennessy Industries, which makes brake grinders. Jurors said Hennessy, which owns Ammco, was 15 percent responsible for 64-year-old Denise Cook’s mesothelioma, meaning it has to pay her $2.7 million.
The case was heard in Florida’s 17th Circuit state court in Broward County. The ruling came down earlier this month.
Cook claims she developed peritoneal mesothelioma from years of exposure to chrysotile asbestos in brake dust because her family did work on car brakes. She says Hennessy failed to properly warn of the dangers of brake dust created by the use of its product.
Hennessy argued that chrysotile asbestos does not cause peritoneal mesothelioma and says Cook could have developed mesothelioma through genetic factors or other natural causes. Hennessy also said its conduct, including any warnings and testing, was adequate for the time frame involved.
Ryan Sweet of Maune Raichle Hartley French & Mudd in Edwardsville, Illinois, represented Cook.
“We are proud that the jury resoundingly rejected false, bought-and-paid-for asbestos industry argument that mechanics and women cannot get peritoneal mesothelioma from exposure to chrysotile asbestos in automotive brakes,” Sweet told The Record. “This verdict reflects the consensus of the mainstream scientific community and the position taken by all public agencies tasked with the preservation of human health that there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos and that all forms of asbestos can and do cause mesothelioma.
“The jury spoke loudly and definitively, holding these companies liable for knowingly exposing Ms. Cook, and many others in her position, to a complete carcinogen for years without any warning.”
Attorneys representing Hennessy did not return messages seeking comment.
17th Judicial Circuit of Florida case number CACE24003818