$45 Million and Counting: Illinois Mesothelioma Verdicts

Cook County has become one of the most consequential jurisdictions in the country for mesothelioma litigation. Between August 2023 and July 2024, Chicago juries handed down four separate awards exceeding $24 million, each arising from a different type of asbestos exposure: industrial gaskets, consumer talc, secondhand take-home fibers, and occupational talc at a manufacturing plant. The pattern reflects Cook County’s concentration of industrial exposure sites, its experienced plaintiffs’ bar, and a jury pool that has seen firsthand the human cost of asbestos disease.

Major Illinois Mesothelioma Verdicts (2023-2024)

$45 Million: Garcia v. Johnson and Johnson / Kenvue (April 2024)

On April 19, 2024, a Cook County jury awarded $45 million to the six adult children of Theresa Garcia, a Chicago mother who developed pleural mesothelioma after a lifetime of using Johnson and Johnson’s talc-based Baby Powder on herself and her children. Garcia died in July 2020. The case was docketed 2020 L 004505 and tried before Judge Patrick J. Sherlock in the Circuit Court of Cook County.

The jury apportioned 70% of the liability to Kenvue, Johnson and Johnson’s former consumer-health subsidiary, 15% to Johnson and Johnson, and 15% to Johnson and Johnson Holdco (NA) Inc.

Judge Sherlock denied J&J’s post-trial motion for a new trial in October 2024. J&J then filed a notice of appeal. As of this publication, no neutral source has confirmed a ruling from the appellate court. The verdict is standing as of the new-trial denial; the appeal remains pending.

$40.75 Million: Beneville v. John Crane Inc. (August 2023)

A Cook County jury awarded $40.75 million to the family of Bruce Torgerson on August 30, 2023, in a case tried before Judge Bridget A. Mitchell in the Circuit Court of Cook County (docket 2019L012850). Torgerson worked as a pump man in oil refining and industrial machinery throughout his career and was exposed to asbestos-containing gaskets and packing manufactured by John Crane Inc. He developed pleural mesothelioma and died in December 2019.

The jury’s award broke down across multiple categories: Bruce Torgerson received $11.25 million for loss of normal life, $13.5 million for pain and suffering, and $5.25 million for emotional distress. His widow, Beverly Torgerson, received $4 million for loss of services and $3.6 million for loss of society plus $1 million for grief. His daughter Annette Beneville and son Rodney Torgerson shared awards of $800,000 for loss of services, $800,000 for loss of society, and $550,000 for grief.

No neutral source has reported a post-trial motion ruling or an appellate challenge beyond the August 2023 verdict date.

$30 Million: Jackson v. Bridgestone Firestone et al. (December 2023)

A Cook County jury on December 22, 2023 awarded $30 million to the family of Thomas Jackson, who developed peritoneal mesothelioma and died approximately five weeks after diagnosis, one month before his 65th birthday. The case was docketed 19 L 009793.

Jackson’s only asbestos exposure was secondhand. As a child, he was exposed to fibers from his father Jim Jackson’s work clothes. Jim Jackson worked as a manager at the Bridgestone Firestone tire plant in Decatur, Illinois, beginning in 1965. The plant used asbestos-containing talc, sourced from Vermont and New York, as a tire and rubber release agent. Thomas Jackson himself never set foot in the plant; the fibers came home on his father’s clothing.

The award broke down to $5.25 million in economic losses, $11.14 million in wrongful death damages, and $13.6 million in survivor damages. No neutral source has reported a post-trial motion ruling or an appellate challenge beyond the December 2023 verdict date.

$24.4 Million: Ramirez v. Avon Products (July 2024)

After a trial of more than one month, a Cook County jury on July 29, 2024 awarded $24.4 million to Cipriano Ramirez and Maria Ramirez. Judge Scott McKenna presided. The case was docketed 2023L004386. Cipriano Ramirez worked as a janitor at Avon’s Morton Grove, Illinois manufacturing facility in the early 1980s, where he was exposed to asbestos-contaminated talc. He was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma in 2023.

The jury itemized the compensatory award as follows: $16 million for shortened life expectancy, $1.4 million for medical expenses, $810,000 for economic losses, $1 million for pain and suffering, and $3 million for Maria Ramirez’s loss of consortium. The jury also awarded $1 million in punitive damages against Avon Products.

Approximately two weeks after the verdict, on August 12, 2024, Avon Products, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (Case No. 24-11836). During the proceedings, the court approved a credit-bid sale of Avon’s international non-US operations. The bankruptcy court issued its confirmation decision on August 21, 2025; the formal plan confirmation order was entered September 24, 2025 (per Stretto, the case administrator). The Avon Liquidation Trust went effective October 7, 2025 to administer asbestos-talc claims. Enforcement of the Ramirez verdict is subject to the trust’s claims process, not direct collection from Avon.

Why Cook County Produces Large Verdicts

Cook County’s record reflects several factors that converge to produce substantial mesothelioma awards. The Chicago metropolitan area was home to steel mills, oil refineries, tire plants, and industrial facilities where workers handled asbestos-containing products for decades. The county’s jury pool includes people who have lived near those facilities or whose families worked in them.

Cook County also hosts a deep plaintiffs’ bar with decades of asbestos litigation experience, and its courts have developed case management practices that allow complex mesothelioma claims to move toward trial efficiently. The four verdicts above each involved distinct exposure pathways, gaskets, consumer talc, take-home fibers, and occupational talc at a manufacturing site, which shows the breadth of compensable claims Illinois courts will hear.

Illinois Filing Deadlines

Illinois personal injury mesothelioma claims are governed by the two-year statute of limitations under 735 ILCS 5/13-202. The clock runs from when the plaintiff knew or reasonably should have known both that an injury occurred and that it was probably caused by wrongful conduct, the discovery rule established by the Illinois Supreme Court in Nolan v. Johns-Manville Asbestos, 85 Ill. 2d 161, 421 N.E.2d 864 (1981). That case arose in the asbestos exposure context and remains controlling authority for latent disease claims.

Wrongful death claims carry a separate two-year limitations period under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, 740 ILCS 180/2, running from the date of death.

These deadlines are firm. Missing them typically bars recovery regardless of the strength of the underlying case. Given that exposure histories can span decades and identifying responsible defendants requires investigation, families benefit from speaking with an attorney as soon as possible after a diagnosis.

How Cook County Cases Resolve

Jury verdicts are one path to compensation, but many Illinois mesothelioma cases resolve through settlement before trial. Separately, dozens of bankrupt asbestos manufacturers established trust funds that continue to pay claims. The Avon Liquidation Trust, effective October 7, 2025, is one example of how a company’s insolvency shifts compensation from courtroom verdicts into a trust-administered claims process.

An experienced mesothelioma attorney can identify which trusts correspond to a worker’s exposure history and which Illinois exposure sites are covered. Trust fund claims proceed independently of lawsuits and on a different timeline.