Wisconsin Mesothelioma Verdicts and Settlements

Two recent Milwaukee County verdicts have produced significant decisions on Wisconsin premises liability and take-home asbestos exposure. The Lorbiecki case settled a long-running question about whether Wisconsin’s safe-place statute covers independent contractors’ employees, and then traveled through three courts before landing at approximately $7 million in the state’s highest court. The Krentz case produced a $9.7 million verdict for a woman who never set foot on a worksite but died from fibers her stepfather brought home on his clothes.

Major Wisconsin Mesothelioma Verdicts

Estate of Lorbiecki v. Pabst Brewing Co. (2026 WI 12)

Gerald Lorbiecki was a union steamfitter employed by independent contractors who worked at Pabst Brewing’s Milwaukee brewery in the mid-1970s. His job required cutting and replacing asbestos-insulated pipes throughout the facility. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2017 and died in 2018.

His estate filed suit in Milwaukee County Circuit Court (Case No. 2018CV004971). On October 6, 2021, a jury found Pabst liable under Wisconsin’s safe-place statute and voted 10-2 to award $6,545,163 in compensatory damages and $20 million in punitive damages, for a combined verdict of $26.54 million. The jury apportioned 42% of fault to Pabst and the remainder to non-party manufacturers.

The trial court then applied Wisconsin’s punitive damages cap: it capped punitive damages at two times Pabst’s apportioned share of the compensatory award (not two times the total compensatory figure), and applied the 42% fault share to the compensatory amount as well. That math reduced the total to approximately $6,986,906.

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals disagreed in May 2024 (2024 WI App 33). It held the punitive cap should apply to the full compensatory award, not just Pabst’s share, and increased the total to approximately $13.4 million.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals in April 2026, in a 5-2 decision. It held that punitive damages must be capped at two times the defendant’s own apportioned share of compensatory damages, not two times the entire compensatory figure. The Supreme Court restored the trial court’s calculation and affirmed the final award of approximately $6,986,906.

Two legal holdings from this case matter for future Wisconsin asbestos litigation. First, Wisconsin’s safe-place statute applies to employees of independent contractors working on property the owner controls. Pabst could not escape liability by pointing to the independent contractor relationship. Second, airborne asbestos disturbed during pipe work constitutes an “unsafe condition” under Wis. Stat. 101.11, creating actionable premises liability.

The liability finding was unanimous. The disagreement between the courts concerned only how to calculate the punitive damages cap.

Estate of Sarah Krentz and Korey Krentz v. Motor Castings Co., et al. (Milwaukee County, 2023)

Sarah Krentz was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma in 2014. She died in 2019 at 39, leaving behind a son, Korey. She had no occupational asbestos exposure of any kind. Her exposure came entirely from her stepfather, Scott St. Onge, a sheet-metal mechanic who worked at Motor Castings Co. and other Milwaukee-area job sites. He carried asbestos fibers home on his clothing.

After a two-week trial, a Milwaukee County jury returned a verdict on May 25, 2023, of $9.7 million: $6.7 million to Krentz’s estate and $3 million to her son Korey. Eleven defendants were named; nine were found liable. Motor Casting Co. was assigned 50% of fault. The other eight liable defendants included Briggs and Stratton, Butters-Fetting, Holming Co., John Hennes Trucking Co., Johns Manville, Mid-City Foundry, Navistar Inc., and Nestle Purina. Lead counsel was Sophie Zavaglia of SWMW Law.

Motor Casting Co. appealed. On September 9, 2024, it voluntarily dismissed its appeal, leaving the $9.7 million verdict intact.

The case confirms that Wisconsin courts will hold product manufacturers and premises owners accountable for take-home asbestos exposure. A family member who never worked with asbestos can still bring a mesothelioma claim when the exposure traces to a worker who carried fibers home.

Why Milwaukee County Produces These Cases

Milwaukee County has been the venue for both of these major rulings because of the density of mid-twentieth century industrial operations in and around the city. Breweries, foundries, sheet-metal shops, and heavy manufacturers all relied on asbestos insulation, gaskets, pipe wrap, and fireproofing. When those workers retired or became ill decades later, their claims concentrated in Milwaukee County courts.

Wisconsin’s safe-place statute adds a second layer of potential liability in premises-based cases. Unlike general negligence, the statute imposes a heightened, near-strict-liability duty on owners to maintain safe conditions for any worker on the property, including independent contractors’ employees. The Lorbiecki ruling confirms that duty is not defeated by a company’s choice to use contractors rather than direct employees.

Wisconsin’s Filing Deadline

Wisconsin sets a three-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims, including mesothelioma, under Wis. Stat. § 893.54(1m)(a). The clock starts from the date of mesothelioma diagnosis, not from the date of asbestos exposure, which may have occurred decades earlier. Wisconsin courts have specifically held that a prior diagnosis of a non-malignant asbestos-related condition does not trigger the statute of limitations for a later malignant mesothelioma diagnosis. Because investigating decades-old exposure at multiple worksites takes time, families should begin gathering work history documentation as early as possible after diagnosis.

How Most Wisconsin Cases Resolve

Most Wisconsin mesothelioma cases never reach a jury. Many of the companies whose products caused asbestos exposure have passed through bankruptcy and established asbestos trust funds that pay claims without litigation. Motor Castings Co.’s co-defendants in Krentz, including Johns Manville, one of the largest trusts, illustrate how a single case can involve both ongoing defendants and bankrupt ones. Trust fund claims can often run in parallel with a lawsuit, and the combination of trust fund recoveries and a negotiated settlement frequently produces total compensation without the delay and uncertainty of a trial.