Appeals court upholds $3 million verdict in asbestos case
Gerald Suttner never lived to see his landmark court victory.
The former pipefitter at General Motor Co.’s engine plant in Tonawanda died at age 77 in 2011, well before New York’s highest court upheld a verdict on behalf of his widow.
The court, in a decision anxiously awaited by industry and business groups across the country, ruled against Crane Co., the Connecticut manufacturer found partially responsible for Suttner’s death. Suttner, who retired from GM in 1996 after more than 30 years of employment, was diagnosed with mesothelioma two years before his death.
A few months after Suttner died, a jury found Crane and several other companies failed to warn him about the risks of working with asbestos-containing replacement parts used in valves at the plant. The jury also awarded $3 million to his family.
Read more: http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/appeals-court-upholds-3-million-verdict-in-asbestos-case-20160710