test- A North Carolina federal judge has ruled that Ford Motor Co. is not responsible for paying any part of a $275,000 jury award to a widow, due to significant settlements she has already received from other companies involved in her husband’s death from cancer.
Legal Rationale Behind the Decision
U.S. District Judge Loretta C. Biggs upheld the jury’s verdict assigning some liability to Ford for Robbie Walls’ death, a mechanic who developed mesothelioma after prolonged asbestos exposure. However, she ruled that Ford does not owe any financial compensation to Laura Walls, the plaintiff, citing North Carolina state law that permits defendants to reduce their liability by the amount the plaintiff has received in settlements from other parties.
Laura Walls had reached settlements totaling approximately $6.88 million with nearly 20 companies over allegations linked to her husband’s illness and death. These settlements, according to Judge Biggs, adequately offset the amount Ford would have been required to pay under the jury’s award. This includes the initial $275,000 in damages and an additional $66,000 in interest that had accumulated since the lawsuit began in 2020.
The case brought by Laura Walls in January 2020 against Ford and other entities, including General Motors, claimed that her husband was exposed to asbestos primarily through brake parts over his more than fifty years as a semi-truck mechanic. While most defendants chose to settle, Ford and Pneumo Abex, which manages a trust for asbestos claims, opted to challenge the claims in court.
In the end, the jury found Ford liable specifically for failing to warn about the dangers of asbestos in its products but declined to award punitive damages against the company. Judge Biggs, while denying Ford’s request for a directed verdict to dismiss the jury’s findings, affirmed that the earlier settlements fully covered the damages awarded in the trial, thereby relieving Ford of financial liability in this instance.
