Ruling Provides Paper Mill Worker and Mesothelioma Victim Closure After Retrial
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C.–LAWFUEL – Legal Newswire – Plaintiffs’ litigation firm Motley Rice LLC announces that a jury in Baltimore Circuit Court has found Scapa Dryers, Inc., and Wallace & Gale liable in the asbestos-related mesothelioma and lung cancer of former paper worker Carl Saville. The plaintiffs argued that in the 1960s and 1970s, Saville was exposed to asbestos-containing dryer felts produced by Scapa as well as pipe, cement and block insulation installed by Wallace & Gale, resulting in the development of harmful disease. The jury awarded $1.718 million to Saville, who has waited for this retrial since the 2003 trial and verdict for the plaintiff was overturned on appeal.
Saville, now 64 years of age, was a paper machine operator at Westvaco in Luke, Maryland. During the mid 1960s and 1970s, he worked on drying machines in a paper plant which utilized Scapa-manufactured dryer felts containing chrysotile asbestos. Wallace & Gale, an insulation contractor to the paper mill where Saville worked, was added as a new defendant in the retrial after its emergence from bankruptcy. In 2002, Saville was diagnosed with lung cancer and a mesothelioma tumor was discovered during the lobectomy. Saville has since gone without cancer recurrence for the past six years.
“In serving as co-counsel for Mr. Saville and his family, we are pleased to provide answers and closure on the cause of his illness. We commend the jury’s decision to hold both Wallace & Gale and Scapa Dryers responsible for knowingly exposing him to dangerous materials,” said Motley Rice trial counsel Fritz J. Jekel.
Motley Rice, including attorneys Fritz J. Jekel and V. Brian Bevon, co-counseled with Michael T. Edmonds of The Law Offices of Peter Nicholl of Maryland on this case.
Scapa Dryers, Inc. manufactured the 200-foot long dryer felts used in Saville’s paper plant. In 1999, Scapa’s technical paper making operations were acquired by J.M. Vioth AG, headquartered in Germany. Wallace & Gale is a Baltimore-based manufacturer of sheet metals, fiber sheets and alloy sheets. The company served as an insulation contractor for the installation and repair of several types of asbestos containing insulation at the paper mill where Saville worked.
About Motley Rice LLC
Motley Rice LLC is one of the nation’s largest plaintiffs’ litigation firms. Motley Rice attorneys gained global recognition for their pioneering work on behalf of asbestos victims, the State Attorneys General in their landmark litigation against Big Tobacco, and the 9/11 families in their groundbreaking lawsuit against terrorist financiers. Through individual and class action litigation, the firm’s occupational disease practice group attorneys represent injured workers in order to create a better and safer work environment.
For more information on the Motley Rice asbestos practice or the firm, contact attorney John Herrick at 1-800-768-4026 or visit www.motleyrice.com or www.aboutmeso.com.
