New York Mesothelioma Verdicts and Settlements

New York’s mesothelioma case volume drives one of the most active asbestos litigation landscapes in the country. The convergence of shipyard, construction, and WTC exposure across the five boroughs means a steady pipeline of cases. The New York City Asbestos Litigation court, known as NYCAL, sits at 71 Thomas Street and has consistently produced verdicts and settlements that reflect the severity of the disease and the depth of defendants’ exposure histories.

Major New York Mesothelioma Verdicts

Durbec v. Mario & DiBono Plastering Co. ($117 Million, 2025)

On May 22, 2025, a NYCAL jury awarded $117 million to William Durbec and his wife Victoria in a case arising from asbestos exposure during the original World Trade Center construction in the 1970s. Mr. Durbec, a Local 28 sheet metal worker employed during the WTC build, was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma in 2022. The sole defendant at trial was Mario & DiBono Plastering Co., which the jury allocated 80% at fault. Port Authority and Tishman Realty & Construction Co. were each allocated 10%, though neither was present at the verdict.

The $117 million breaks down as $78 million to William Durbec ($40 million past and $38 million future pain and suffering) and $39 million to Victoria Durbec ($20 million past and $19 million future loss of consortium). Fordham Law confirmed the award as the largest single-plaintiff asbestos verdict in New York state history.

Post-trial briefing was scheduled to conclude by September 2025 under a stipulated schedule. As of publicly available reporting through mid-2026, no reduction, appeal, vacatur, or payment has been confirmed. The outcome of post-trial proceedings has not been publicly reported and remains open.

Robaey v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. ($75M Reduced to ~$10.4M, 2017-2020)

In January 2017, a NYCAL jury awarded $75 million in Matter of New York City Asbestos Litig. (Robaey v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp.) (Index No. 190276/13) to Marlena Robaey and her husband Edward. Ms. Robaey, diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma in November 2012, alleged take-home exposure from her husband’s automotive gasket and brake work and from laundering his asbestos-contaminated clothing. The jury allocated fault across four defendants: Dana Companies at 40%, Federal-Mogul/Fel-Pro at 30%, Crane Co. at 20%, and Cleaver-Brooks at 10%. Crane and Cleaver-Brooks settled during trial, leaving Dana and Fel-Pro as the remaining liable parties at verdict.

In October 2018, NYCAL Justice Joan Madden rejected causation challenges but reduced the award to $17.25 million ($16 million to Ms. Robaey, $1.25 million to Mr. Robaey) on excessiveness grounds.

On November 5, 2020, the Appellate Division, First Department (2020 NY Slip Op 06301) affirmed liability. The court found visible dust from gaskets containing 50% to 85% chrysotile asbestos sufficient to establish causation. The court vacated $12 million in past pain and suffering and $1 million in past loss of consortium as still excessive, ordering a new trial unless plaintiffs stipulated within 30 days to $5.5 million past pain and suffering and $650,000 past loss of consortium, while affirming $4 million in future pain and suffering and $250,000 in future loss of consortium against the Federal-Mogul Trust. Post-stipulation total comes to roughly $10.4 million.

Mayer and Pride v. John Crane Inc. ($22 Million, 2004)

In August 2004, a New York State Supreme Court jury in Matter of New York Asbestos Litig. (Mayer and Pride v. John Crane) returned a $22 million verdict against John Crane Inc. in a consolidated trial of two Brooklyn Navy Yard plaintiffs. Bernard Mayer, an apprentice electrician at the Yard from 1943 to 1945, received $7 million. Margaret Marshall, as administratrix of the estate of Noah Pride, a Navy and Merchant Marine seaman, received $15 million. The jury found John Crane 100% at fault for each plaintiff’s mesothelioma based on John Crane asbestos gaskets and packing.

Justice Paula J. Omansky denied John Crane’s post-trial motions on November 5, 2004. The Appellate Division affirmed: Matter of New York Asbestos Litig., 2006 NY Slip Op 02644 (N.Y. App. Div.).

In re Brooklyn Navy Yard Asbestos Litigation (1990s)

Approximately 600 Brooklyn Navy Yard asbestos cases were jointly consolidated under Judge Jack B. Weinstein in the Eastern District of New York and Justice Helen E. Freedman in Manhattan Supreme Court, with Kenneth R. Feinberg serving as settlement master. About 79 cases were tried in three phases.

Phase I covered 64 cases with 90% or greater Navy Yard exposure, tried in federal court before Judge Weinstein; 52 plaintiff verdicts produced damages exceeding $30 million, with 12 defense verdicts. Phases II and III covered 15 cases across two remaining exposure bands; 12 plaintiff verdicts produced damages exceeding $7 million, with 3 defense verdicts.

No punitive damages were awarded. Verdicts were molded under CPLR Articles 14, 16, 50, and 50-B, and EPTL § 5-4.3(a), as the Second Circuit confirmed in In re Brooklyn Navy Yard Asbestos Litigation, 971 F.2d 831 (2d Cir. 1992). Primary defendants included Owens-Illinois, Pittsburgh Corning Corp., Fibreboard Corp., Keene Corp., and the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust. The proceeding remains one of the largest coordinated shipyard asbestos efforts in New York history.

Olson v. Brenntag North America, Inc., Reversed on Causation (2022)

In May 2019, a NYCAL jury awarded $325 million ($25 million compensatory, $300 million punitive) against Johnson & Johnson based on Donna Olson’s mesothelioma allegedly caused by asbestos in J&J talc products. The trial court remitted the award to roughly $120 million in November 2020.

On July 19, 2022, the Appellate Division, First Department reversed the verdict in full on causation grounds. The court held that plaintiff’s experts failed to provide a scientific expression of the minimum lifetime asbestos exposure sufficient to cause mesothelioma, as New York toxic tort standards require. Judgment was entered in favor of Johnson & Johnson, and no further appellate proceedings have been reported. This case is sometimes mis-tagged as a California verdict in aggregator sources; it was litigated entirely in New York County Supreme Court under NYCAL.

NYCAL: Why New York Concentrates Asbestos Litigation

NYCAL was established by a Case Management Order adopted on March 25, 1988, and has been amended repeatedly since. It operates within the New York County Supreme Court, Civil Term, at 71 Thomas Street, Room 304, New York, NY 10013, and consolidates asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death cases arising in New York, Queens, Kings, Bronx, and Richmond Counties.

The court uses an accelerated docket for mesothelioma plaintiffs. New York’s combination of dense pre-1980 building stock across the five boroughs, a major naval shipyard workforce at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and large industrial and maritime trades means defendants’ exposure histories are often deep and traceable. A single insulator or steamfitter who worked across Manhattan job sites over a 20-year career may have been exposed to products from dozens of manufacturers, opening claims against multiple defendants and multiple asbestos bankruptcy trusts simultaneously.

New York’s Discovery Clock

New York’s asbestos statute of limitations is governed by N.Y. CPLR § 214-c, enacted as part of the Toxic Tort Reform Act of 1986. The limitation period is three years, running from the date the plaintiff discovered the injury, or from the date a reasonably diligent person should have discovered it, whichever is earlier. A separate provision, CPLR § 214-c(4), allows an additional one-year window if the plaintiff discovers the cause within five years of discovering the injury and technical or scientific knowledge of that cause was not available within the original period.

Wrongful death actions in New York must be filed within two years of the decedent’s death under N.Y. EPTL § 5-4.1. This is the sole governing provision for wrongful death; it runs from the date of death, not from discovery of exposure. An exception applies for wrongful death arising from the September 11, 2001 attacks, where the period is two years and six months from death.

Because New York mesothelioma cases often require tracing exposure across decades, multiple job sites, and dozens of manufacturers, investigation should begin as early as possible after diagnosis to preserve evidence and identify all potentially responsible parties.

Settlements, Trusts, and the 9/11 Fund

Most mesothelioma cases in New York resolve before trial. Many former manufacturers and distributors of asbestos products established bankruptcy trusts, and New York plaintiffs can file claims against multiple trusts in parallel with any lawsuit. The amounts recoverable from each trust depend on that trust’s payment percentage and the plaintiff’s individual exposure evidence.

The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund is a separate pathway available to first responders, area workers, residents, and students who meet WTC Health Program certification requirements. Mesothelioma is a certified WTC-related cancer under the program, with a minimum latency period of 11 years from the qualifying exposure event. Awards from the VCF for certified WTC-related conditions are not subject to federal, state, or local income tax.