Mesothelioma Victim Wins $20 Million Verdict in Asbestos Lawsuit Announces Baron & Budd, P.C.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The law firm of Baron & Budd, P.C. today announced a $20 million civil verdict in an asbestos lawsuit on behalf of Joan Mahoney, 69-year-old victim of mesothelioma, a painful and debilitating form of cancer affecting the lining of the lungs, and Daniel Mahoney, her husband of 42 years. The jury attributed 30% of the $20 million liability to defendant Georgia Pacific Corp.

Baron & Budd attorneys John Langdoc and Roger Gold represented Joan and Daniel Mahoney before Judge Thomas Mellon in San Francisco County Superior Court, announced Russell Budd, managing shareholder of Baron & Budd.

“To our knowledge, this is one of the largest asbestos verdicts of its kind,” said Budd. “The results of this trial send a clear message that companies will be held accountable for endangering innocent people.”

Mrs. Mahoney, a San Francisco native, spent much of her career in real estate and show business. Her singing career spanned 30 years and took her around the world seven times on USO tours. But it was her work in the part-time family construction business that exposed Mrs. Mahoney to Georgia Pacific’s asbestos-containing joint compound, the suit established. Together, Mrs. Mahoney and her husband, who was also a math teacher, built and remodeled over 200 houses in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

The evidence at trial showed that Georgia Pacific knew from the moment it entered the asbestos business that asbestos exposure causes disease. Years before the Mahoneys first used Georgia Pacific’s asbestos-containing joint compound, Georgia Pacific knew that its product posed a substantial risk to workers. But Georgia Pacific continued making asbestos-containing joint compounds well after other companies stopped.

Georgia Pacific made a conscious business decision to benefit financially from the fact that other manufacturers ceased manufacturing the more profitable asbestos containing joint compounds. Not until the government banned certain uses of asbestos in 1977, after the Consumer Product Safety Commission said that exposure to asbestos-containing joint compound for as little as six hours a day, four times per year could result in thousands of people developing cancer, did Georgia Pacific stop selling asbestos containing joint compound.

“I’ve been honored to represent the Mahoney family,” said Langdoc. “Joan Mahoney has worked hard her whole life to care for her parents, to raise a much younger sister, and now to take care of her husband, the love of her life, who was disabled by a stroke last year. Georgia Pacific didn’t care what happened to her family when it sold this product without warnings, but we do care.”

The damage caused by asbestos exposure can take decades to surface. Mrs. Mahoney was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2006—35 years after her first exposure to Georgia Pacific’s product. She continues to fight the painful disease that experts say will cause great suffering and eventually kill her.

About Baron & Budd, P.C.

For 30 years, the law firm of Baron & Budd, P.C. has championed the rights of people and communities harmed by corporate misconduct. With more than 50 attorneys and offices in California, Texas and Louisiana, Baron & Budd enjoys a national reputation as a leader of the plaintiffs’ bar. The firm represents individuals with mesothelioma and other diseases caused by asbestos; leukemia caused by benzene; injuries caused by other toxic substances and unsafe pharmaceuticals; water authorities seeking clean-up costs for drinking water contamination; securities investors defrauded by corporate wrongdoing; and consumers in class actions.