The widow of a worker who died prematurely after he developed mesothelioma from occupational factors won her case against his employers, who she claimed were responsible for exposing him to the dangerous material on the job.

George Coulbourn was a U.S. Navy worker in a Norfolk, VA shipyard. He worked for the Navy as a civilian for 35 years, and he spent seven of those years maintaining equipment on ships where he often had to remove old gaskets or valves containing asbestos. He developed mesothelioma from working with these materials, which did not carry warnings. He died in 2013. His widow, Sandra Coulbourn, sued the U.S. Navy, Crane Co. and William Powell Co., and other companies because she claimed they were partly responsible for his death since they had been the ones to manufacture the asbestos containing products, and they had been the ones to ask Mr. Coulbourn to handle these materials without alerting him to the associated risks.

The trial was determined by a federal jury in Phoenix, AZ. They awarded Sandra Coulbourn and her family a total of $17 million in damages. Crane Co. was responsible for $9 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. William Powell Co. was responsible for $3 million in punitive damages. The jury held that the U.S. Navy and the other companies were liable for 75 percent of the exposure, while Crane Co. was responsible for 20 percent of the exposure and William Powell Co. responsible for five percent.

Her attorney said that the companies involved in the verdict knew that their products contained asbestos and did not do anything to warn workers about the hazards.

“…He died due to their negligence, and this jury held them accountable,” he said, referencing Mr. Coulbourn’s death.

The lawyer for Crane Co., Terry Budd, said that they plan to appeal because they do not believe the evidence presented in the case proves causation from their products, and they should not be held liable for punitive damages when they were asked to make specific equipment for the military that required them to use asbestos in their manufacture.