A state appeals court has upheld the monetary awards given to a worker and the estates of two other workers who were exposed to asbestos at Riegel Paper Mills. After a six-week trial in the Civil Division of Superior Court in New Brunswick, a jury awarded Walter L. Patton $514,220, the estate of Harry H. Wilson $76,102 and the estate of Walter W. Grube $259,045. Scapa Dryer Fabrics Inc., the manufacturer of the felts that dried the wet rolls of paper on Riegel's paper machines, appealed the awards because of their size, the jury's failure to apportion liability to the other defendants in the complex litigation and cumulative errors in the trial.
Witnesses during the trial testified that Patton, Wilson and Grube all worked around the paper machines and the dryer felts and were exposed to asbestos dust. Witnesses also testified the three did not take any special precautions around the dryer felts, nor were they ever instructed to. Scapa's expert witnesses testified that the dust created in the paper mills was "paper dust" that did not contain asbestos and that the three men were not exposed to hazardous levels of asbestos. At the end of the trial, the jury rejected the claims of two other workers, but found only Scapa liable for damages to the three workers.
Excerpted from myCentralJersey.com.
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