Jury Awards $83 Million in Asbestos Case Involving Ceramics Products

A Massachusetts jury has awarded $83 million to the estate of a woman who died from mesothelioma caused by asbestos in ceramics products.

The jury returned the verdict against the maker of the ceramics products, American Art Clay Co.

The award went to the family of Judith A. Lapointe of Greenfield who died in 2022. Lapointe’s family claimed she was exposed to certain asbestos-containing products while working at her mother’s ceramics studio in Massachusetts in the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s and from her mother’s work with these products.

The verdict includes $10 million for pain and suffering; $13 million for the loss suffered by her husband, Michael; and $60 million in punitive damages based on the jury finding that the company engaged in “malicious, willful, wanton, or reckless conduct” by concealing and failing to warn users of its products.

The clay company’s officials knew, or should have known, about the health risks associated with asbestos in their products as early as the 1960s but failed to warn users, Lapointe’s attorneys argued during the trial.

American Clay argued that its products never contained asbestos or talc. The company also claimed that if there was any defect negligence as alleged, then it was not liable as it “justifiably relied upon inspection by or others in the regular course of trade and business.”

Mesothelioma is a deadly form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos.

“This lawsuit is about justice for a life unnecessarily cut short because of the choices that this company made to conceal the truth about the dangers of asbestos in its products,” said trial attorney Rachel Gross of the law firm, Iola, Gross & Forbes-King.

The law firm said this is believed to be the largest asbestos verdict ever awarded in Massachusetts.