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Kazan Law Announces 2 Major Punitive Damages Awards in Bankhead Case

January 8, 2011

Oakland, CA (PRWEB) January 8, 2011

Gordon and Emily Bankhead v. Allied Packing Supply, Inc., et al. (2010)

Alameda County Superior Court Case No. RG10502243

Two major punitive damages awards have been announced in the Bankhead case. On January 6, 2011, the jury returned an additional verdict of $4,500,000 in punitive damages against ArvinMeritor, Inc. and $9,000,000 against Pneumo Abex LLC, for a total verdict of $17,470,000. On December 22, 2010, an Oakland jury returned a verdict of $3,970,000 against ArvinMeritor, Inc. (Rockwell International), Carlisle Corporation, and Pneumo Abex LLC for Gordon and Emily Bankhead. The jury also returned a verdict against Kelsey-Hayes (Fruehauf Corporation), which resolved the case during jury deliberations. The jury found that all four defendants committed malice, fraud and/or oppression.

Gordon Bankhead, age 66, worked from 1965 to 1999 in the service and repair of heavy duty vehicles as a Parts Man. He spent most of his career at Sea-Land Shipping Company in Oakland, California. He regularly handled asbestos-containing brakes, and was present for the inspection, replacement, grinding, and blowing out of asbestos-containing brakes. All of these activities caused him to breathe deadly asbestos dust. Abex and Carlisle manufactured the vast majority of the brake linings Mr. Bankhead was exposed to, which in turn Rockwell and Fruehauf attached to brake shoes and axles that were sold to Mr. Bankhead’s employers. Gordon Bankhead was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an asbestos-caused cancer, in January 2010. The Kazan firm filed suit on behalf of Mr. and Mrs. Bankhead in March 2010. Trial commenced on October 25, 2010. Evidence at trial showed that Pneumo Abex had been aware of the deadly health effects of breathing asbestos dust since at least the 1940s, but that Pneumo Abex did not begin warning its customers of those effects until years after Mr. Bankhead was exposed to the asbestos-containing brakes it made and sold. Abex and Carlisle were involved in discussions within the Friction Materials Standards Institute in the 1970s about whether to warn about the health hazards from its brakes. Rockwell complained starting in the early 1970s that its employees were exposed to dust from Abex and Carlisle brakes, but did nothing to warn its customers of the same hazards. As early as 1977, Rockwell learned that one of its employees who handled brakes was diagnosed with mesothelioma, the same disease Mr. Bankhead developed. Despite their knowledge of the hazards of asbestos, Carlisle and Pneumo Abex continued to sell asbestos-containing brakes until 1987; Rockwell did not cease selling asbestos brakes until 2000.

The jury found that all defendants defectively designed their brakes, failed to adequately warn consumers and customers of the dangers the brakes posed, were negligent, and intentionally concealed information that could have prevented the harm Mr. Bankhead suffered, all of which contributed to causing Mr. Bankhead’s mesothelioma. The jury apportioned 30% liability each to Carlisle and Pneumo Abex, 15% each to ArvinMeritor and Kelsey-Hayes, and 10% to Mr. Bankhead’s employers. The jury awarded Mr. Bankhead $1,470,000 for his past and future economic loss, and $1,500,000 for his pain and suffering. The jury also awarded his wife Emily Bankhead $1,000,000 for her loss of her husband’s support and companionship. The jury found that all four defendants’ actions were malicious, fraudulent, and/or oppressive. The amount of punitive damages is to be determined.

Mr. and Mrs. Bankhead were represented at trial by Joseph Satterley of Louisville, Kentucky, Kazan Firm partner Leigh Kirmsse, and Kazan Firm associate Justin Bosl.

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