Painter

Age:  65

Settlement:  $3.3 Million

Larry was a painter for most of his life, but he was working as an insulation company estimator at age 62, when he was diagnosed with mesothelioma. He entered the insulation business late in his career, long after asbestos was last used in insulation products. He was earning a good living as an estimator, and wanted to keep working for several years to build a nest egg that would allow him and his wife to retire. But the diagnosis of mesothelioma ended his ability to work, and threatened the secure future that Larry and his wife had hoped for.

He turned to us for help. We determined that Larry’s exposure to asbestos occurred not in the insulation trade, but when he worked as a painter. As a young man, Larry had done painting at the Thule Air Force Base in Greenland. We obtained records from the National Archives that showed which companies’ asbestos products Larry was exposed to in Greenland.

We also determined that he was exposed to asbestos at a Westinghouse turbine manufacturing facility in South Philadelphia where he had done painting work in the early 60’s. We obtained records from Westinghouse showing that asbestos was used in Larry’s presence, and showing that Westinghouse had knowledge of asbestos hazards going back to the 1940’s. Also, we were able to prove that Larry was exposed to drywall and joint compound products containing asbestos when he moved to California in the mid 1960’s.

Based upon the case we built against the companies responsible for Larry’s asbestos exposure, Clapper, Patti, Schweizer & Mason recovered settlements of over 3.3 million dollars.