The Law Office of Worthington & Caron PC is pleased to report that
a Los Angeles jury has recently returned an $8.6 million verdict in favor
of our clients, the surviving wife and daughters of a 68 year-old refinery
worker, in a case titled
Saller v. Crown Cork & Seal.
The verdict is the culmination of a long and emotional ordeal for the family
which began in June of 2005 when Mr. Saller was diagnosed with malignant
pleural mesothelioma. A proud man with much to live for, Mr. Saller fought
valiantly against his disease, undergoing a ten-hour
surgery followed by over a month of
radiation treatments.
A former Marine Corporal, refinery worker and heavy equipment operator,
Mr. Saller worked hard for everything he accomplished in his life. He
certainly never thought of himself as a person who would file a personal
injury lawsuit. But after learning how long companies continued selling
asbestos after knowing it caused lung disease and cancer, he concluded
that filing a lawsuit was the right and just thing to do. His asbestos
disease was threatening the financial security he worked so hard to attain.
He knew that his life and the lives of his wife and daughters would never
be the same. So he decided to fight back.
Through his legal team, the Worthington & Caron and Waters, Kraus &
Paul law firms, a lawsuit was filed against over 20 defendants on November
1, 2005. On January 19, 2006, Mr. Saller began what proved to be a lengthy
deposition in which he was questioned for days by asbestos company lawyers.
Unfortunately, Mr. Saller’s condition began to decline and it became
more and more difficult for him to concentrate and endure the questioning.
“Mr. Saller’s body was slowly shutting down,” recalls attorney
John Caron, who represented Mr. Saller through the entirety of the deposition. “He
knew that if he didn’t complete his deposition, any hope of achieving
justice for his family would be lost. He knew he was losing the battle
against his disease, but he would not give in to it until he finished
the job he had started.”
Mr. Saller completed the job on February 2, 2006. He passed away a week
later on February 9, 2006.
Having witnessed Mr. Saller fight so courageously for them, his wife and
daughters resolved to finish the job he had started. Their case dragged
through the system until finally being called for trial almost two years
later in December 2007. Mrs. Saller and her daughters endured hours of
Mr. Saller’s videotaped testimony, reliving the steady demise that
ultimately led to his passing. The family was hopeful that the jury would
grant them the justice that Mr. Saller fought so hard to achieve. But
the jury felt compelled to find against the family, and in favor of the
two companies remaining in the case, because of what were believed to
be improper jury instructions given by the judge.
The family’s fight for justice didn’t end there. An appeal
was filed in which the court of appeal was asked to reverse the trial
court’s judgment based on the improper jury instructions. The asbestos
company lawyers opposed the appeal and the matter languished in the system
for over three years. But on August 27, 2010, the court of appeal found
that the trial judge’s instructions were indeed improper and had
denied justice to the Saller family. Accordingly, the court of appeal
returned the case to the trial court for a new trial before a new judge.
Again, the wheels of justice turned excruciatingly slow. Over the course
of more than three years, the case was set for trial on six separate occasions,
only to be continued for some reason outside of the family’s control.
Ultimately, the case began trial on November 21, 2013.
In the six years that had passed, one of the defendants in the first trial
had gone bankrupt, so the only defendant at trial was Crown, Cork &
Seal Company. Mr. Saller testified that he was exposed to dust from asbestos
pipe covering insulation made by the company’s predecessor, Mundet,
while working at the Standard Oil refinery in El Segundo from 1959 to 1966.
The Saller family was represented at trial by attorney Scott Frost who
deftly presented evidence establishing the asbestos content of the products,
the manner in which the toxic dust from the products was inhaled by Mr.
Saller and other workers at the refinery, the company’s knowledge
of the hazards of their asbestos products and their failure to provide
warnings to Mr. Saller and others so that they could have avoided the
deadly effects of their products.
At the trial, the videotapes of Mr. Saller’s deposition were shown,
again revealing his relentless fight to present the evidence of his case
as his disease unmercifully progressed. For the family, the trial took
them back seven years, re-opening the emotional wounds that they had tried
so hard to heal. But for each one of them, all of this was secondary.
“There’s no way we’re giving up,” said Mrs. Saller.
“He kept going because of us. Now it’s our turn to keep going
for him.”
On December 13, 2013, over eight and-a-half years after Mr. Saller’s
diagnosis, the family finally got their first taste of justice. The jury in the
case returned a verdict of $5,016,000 for which Crown, Cork & Seal
was determined to be 30% responsible. The jury also determined that the
company had acted with malice or conscious disregard justifying an award
of punitive damages. On December 16, 2013, the jury awarded $3,600,000
in punitive damages against the company.
“I’m shocked, thrilled and relieved,” said Mrs. Saller.
“I’m so pleased that he finally got his justice. It’s
such a great feeling, like a weight has finally been lifted from our shoulders.
My family, our attorneys, we all finished the job. Just like he did. My
husband can finally rest in peace.”