Asbestos Verdict Upheld by Louisiana Court of Appeal, Announces Ba...( $3.2 Million Verdict Upheld Against ...),Health

$3.2 Million Verdict Upheld Against Mesothelioma Victim's Former Employers

BATON ROUGE, La., May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Just fifteen months after winning a $3.2 million verdict against contractors Parsons Infrastructure & Technology Group, Inc. and Jacobs Constructors, Inc. on behalf of mesothelioma victim Ray Rando, Baron & Budd, P.C. today announced the verdict has been affirmed by the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal. Rando, a former welder and pipefitter, contracted mesothelioma as a result of asbestos exposure while he worked for the defendants.

Rando was represented at trial by attorneys Cameron Waddell and Jody Alderman of Baton Rouge's LeBlanc & Waddell. Baron & Budd's Renee Melancon was appellate counsel for Rando.

"Ray Rando's employers tried repeatedly to evade responsibility for his injuries, but these committed attorneys convinced the trial court, and then the Court of Appeal, that these companies were responsible to their employees for exposing them to dangerous levels of asbestos," said Russell W. Budd, managing shareholder of Baron & Budd.

In addition to confirming that Louisiana's 1952 Workers' Compensation Act does not cover mesothelioma and so does not bar suits by mesothelioma victims against their employers, the Court of Appeal ruled that Rando's case was not barred by Louisiana's 10-year preemptive period to bring claims for injuries arising from deficiencies in the construction of improvements to real property. The court ruled that, because Rando's employer-a contractor who did major "turn-key" construction jobs at a chemical plant-had control over the construction at the time of Mr. Rando's asbestos exposure, Rando's claims against his employer fell within the statute's exception and were not untimely.

The dangers of asbestos exposure, particularly to those like the plaintiff working in close proximity to asbestos insulation, were widely known in industry circles for decades before Rando went to work
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