New Jersey Mesothelioma Verdicts and Settlements

New Jersey’s asbestos litigation runs through the state’s Multicounty Litigation program, with most filings assigned to Middlesex County Superior Court. Several of the largest reported talc and asbestos verdicts in the state have been disturbed on appeal, while a smaller verdict reached the New Jersey Supreme Court and was reinstated. The pattern that emerges from the published opinions is one of close appellate scrutiny of expert testimony and jury instructions in mesothelioma cases.

For the broader context behind these cases, see New Jersey mesothelioma statistics.

Notable New Jersey Outcomes

Lanzo v. Johnson and Johnson

In April 2018, a Middlesex County jury awarded Stephen Lanzo III and his wife Kendra $117 million in a case alleging that asbestos-contaminated Johnson’s Baby Powder was a substantial factor in Lanzo’s mesothelioma. The award included $37 million in compensatory damages, with $7 million of that for loss of consortium, and $80 million in punitive damages. Punitive damages were split between the defendants, with $55 million assessed against Johnson and Johnson Consumer Inc. and $25 million against Imerys Talc America. Cyprus Amax Minerals and Johnson and Johnson (the parent entity) were dismissed before the verdict.

On April 28, 2021, the New Jersey Appellate Division reversed the Lanzo verdict in a published opinion (Docket A-5711-17) and remanded the matter for new, separate trials against Johnson and Johnson Consumer Inc. and Imerys Talc America. The appellate panel held that the trial court failed its gatekeeping role under the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Accutane standard by admitting unreliable expert testimony linking non-asbestiform minerals to mesothelioma causation. The court also ruled that an adverse-inference instruction issued against Imerys for talc-sample spoliation prejudiced Johnson and Johnson Consumer Inc., requiring severance. As of 2026-04-24, no retrial, settlement, or new verdict has been reported.

For the broader talc litigation context, see our coverage of Johnson and Johnson talc lawsuits.

Barden v. Johnson and Johnson

In September 2019, a Middlesex County jury awarded $37.3 million in compensatory damages to four consolidated plaintiffs, Douglas Barden, David Etheridge, D’Angela McNeill-George, and William Ronning, in talc-asbestos cases against Johnson and Johnson and Brenntag North America (Docket Nos. MID-L-1809-17, MID-L-0932-17, and MID-L-7049-16). On February 9, 2020, the same jury added $750 million in punitive damages. The trial court applied the New Jersey Punitive Damages Act 5x cap and reduced the punitive award to $186.5 million.

On October 3, 2023, the New Jersey Appellate Division reversed the entire Barden judgment in the consolidated appeals docketed A-0047-20, A-0048-20, A-0049-20, and A-0050-20. The court vacated both the $37.3 million compensatory award and the $186.5 million reduced punitive award and remanded for a new trial. The panel held that the trial court erred in admitting unreliable expert testimony from plaintiff experts on asbestos causation and exposure, including methodologically disputed differential-diagnosis opinions and EPA-report extrapolations equating different fiber types. With liability reversed, the appellate court treated the punitive-phase challenges as moot. The Appellate Division later denied rehearing. As of 2026-04-24, no retrial, settlement, or New Jersey Supreme Court certification has been reported.

The 5x cap mechanic still operates as a matter of state statute. The trial-court reduction in Barden has no continuing legal effect because the underlying judgment was vacated.

Fowler v. Union Carbide

On December 4, 2018, a Middlesex County jury awarded $2.38 million in compensatory damages to Thomasenia L. Fowler, administrator of the estate of Willis Edenfield. Edenfield worked at the National Starch facility in Bloomfield, New Jersey from 1954 to 1994 and died of pleural mesothelioma in 2011. Trial evidence showed that Union Carbide shipped more than 40,000 pounds of Calidria asbestos to the facility over 12 years. After a two-month trial, the jury declined to award punitive damages.

The Fowler verdict followed an unusual appellate path. On May 26, 2021, the New Jersey Appellate Division (Docket A-4007-18) vacated the verdict and remanded for a new trial over jury-instruction issues. The New Jersey Supreme Court then reversed the Appellate Division on June 30, 2022 (Docket A-5-21) and reinstated the $2.38 million verdict, holding that the trial court’s duty-to-warn and proximate-cause instructions, framed under the Sholtis medical-causation factors, were proper. The verdict is currently standing.

How Damages Are Awarded in New Jersey

Compensatory damages in New Jersey mesothelioma cases can include medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and loss of consortium for spouses. Punitive damages are limited by statute.

Filing Deadlines and Venue

New Jersey has a two-year statute of limitations for asbestos personal-injury claims, running from diagnosis or reasonable discovery under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2(a). Wrongful-death claims must be filed within two years of the date of death under N.J.S.A. 2A:31-3. The discovery rule is applied with awareness of the long latency of asbestos disease.

Approximately 92% of New Jersey asbestos matters are handled through the statewide Asbestos Multicounty Litigation program in Middlesex County Superior Court, Civil Division Part, in New Brunswick. Judge Ana C. Viscomi presides over the docket, with assistance from Special Master Agatha N. Dzikiewicz. More than 1,300 asbestos claims are pending in the consolidated litigation. The New Jersey Courts publish a statewide asbestos case list and trial list.

For comparison with neighboring states, see Pennsylvania mesothelioma verdicts and settlements and New York mesothelioma verdicts and settlements. For trust fund coverage that often runs alongside litigation, see New Jersey asbestos trust funds for workers. For the medical context behind these cases, see the 2026 mesothelioma treatment landscape.