Engineered stone companies found partially liable for worker's silicosis

A Los Angeles County jury trial testing artificial stone companies' liability for a laborer's debilitating silicosis diagnosis has ended with a $52 million verdict for which they are partially liable, in what the plaintiff's attorneys say is a sign of an impending industry reckoning.

James Nevin, one of the plaintiff's attorneys with Brayton Purcell LLP, said in a phone interview Thursday that it was the first stone worker silicosis case to "get to trial at all, and then it's also the first one to go to verdict." Most of the nearly 30 defendants had settled prior to trial. However, engineered stone companies Caesarstone USA, Cambria and Color Marble Inc. remained. "It was considered a bellwether case, because it's the first of many hundreds, if not thousands," Nevin added.

Plaintiff Gustavo Reyes Gonzalez, a 34-year-old immigrant from Mexico, had accused the artificial stone slab manufacturers of being liable for his fatal accelerated silicosis, a lung disease caused by inhaling tiny particles of silica in dust and linked to working with these products. Reyes Gonzalez worked in stone fabrication shops for 15 years until at 33 he developed the condition and received a lung transplant. He will likely require further lung transplants in the future.

Jurors concluded that Caesarstone USA bore 15% of the responsibility for the plaintiff's illness, Cambria 10% and Color Marble 2.5%. They assigned 70% of responsibility to "others" - including the plaintiff's employers - and 2.5% to the plaintiff himself. Judge William F. Fahey presided. Reyes-Gonzalez v. Aaroha Radiant Marble & Granite Slabs, a California corporation et al., 22STCV31907 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Sept. 29, 2022)

Nevin said defendants had treated the case as a testing ground for their defense theories, including trying to pin the blame for silicosis on fabrication shops and their workers. This strategy had failed, he said.

"These three defendants wanted to test out their defenses and their defense was essentially to entirely blame the unsophisticated hirer, the fabrication shop hire and unsophisticated fabrication shop worker, the person with silicosis, in this case, Gustavo Reyes. And they found out that defense didn't work," he said.

While a verdict linked to artificial stone was novel, the underlying principles driving the case were simple.

"It is basic liability law, basic negligence, ordinary care to avoid injury to others," Nevin said, explaining the case strategy. It was about asking jurors, "What would a reasonable manufacturer or supplier do?" The answer, Nevin said, was "that the product was defective as designed, because it's not as safe as the users expected it to be."

"All the lay witnesses in this case testified that there were no warnings at all," he said. When warnings were provided, "their warnings are inadequate. They don't tell workers that the only way to fabricate this is with wet equipment in a NASA moon suit style protection. They tell them if it's wet, you don't even need a mask."

Given this, Nevin said the strategy was to "convey to the jury that selling such a hazardous, dangerous product that can't be fabricated safely, when you know that it can't be, and you've known for decades and you're doing it without warning, is just so fundamentally wrong. And the jury understood that."

Reyes Gonzalez was also represented by Nevin's colleagues Gilbert Purcell, Daniel Morse and Gabriela Monoz-Gomez, and by Raphael Metzger and Scott Brust of the Metzger Law Group.

Metzger wrote in an email that silicosis was a growing problem in the U.S.

"There is an epidemic of accelerated silicosis among stone countertop fabricators in this country, with an epicenter in California. As of July 9th, 154 silicosis cases related to engineered stone in California were confirmed by the California Department of Public Health, with 92 of the cases being in Los Angeles County," he wrote.

He added that the verdict showed a path forward for other workers who had developed silicosis.

"My law firm and Brayton Purcell are now representing about 150 workers who have been diagnosed with this horrific disease, as well as the widows and minor children of several young workers who died before they could get lung transplants. The verdict in this case shows that these unfortunate and vulnerable workers and their families can get justice," he wrote. "This verdict should also be a wakeup call for the manufacturers of these deadly products that they will be held accountable for the massive harm that they have caused these workers and their families."

Nevin anticipated more trials to come.

"If you look at any major toxic tort, there's usually several trials before the rest really start mostly settling. Even in asbestos, which has been going on for over 40 years, there's still a lot of trials. There won't be a uniform response. Some defendants will act a certain way, some will act another," he explained.

Despite this, some companies would "strategically start to resolve the cases, because they really can't afford to have many very large verdicts like this."

While the three defendants in this case may appeal, Nevin said, "There's no chance of reversal on appeal. There were no erroneous decisions that were in favor of the plaintiff. If they do appeal, it's a delay kind of thing."

Caesarstone was represented by Peter A. Strotz of King and Spalding LLP. Color Marble was represented by Rey Yang of Yang PLC. Neither attorney returned a request for comment by press time.

Cambria was represented by Lindsay Weiss and Jennifer Judin of Manning Gross + Massenburg LLP.

Weiss sent a statement on behalf of Cambria via email. The company "intends to explore all options regarding the appellate process."

"We respect the hardworking and dedicated jury and the process, but are disappointed in their decision regarding Cambria," the statement read.

It further stated, "It is the responsibility of any employer who chooses to work in the stone fabrication industry to follow the state and federal laws that protect their workers, including longstanding and well-established OSHA regulations and requirements," referring to the Occupation Health and Safety Administration.

"The jury agreed that Mr. Reyes-Gonzalez's employer was ultimately responsible for his illness, and the evidence was clear that his employer failed to take any precautions to protect him. Cambria stands by the safety of its product and knows that this is a workplace safety issue that must be addressed."

Other jurisdictions have been grappling with how to regulate the industry for years, as an increasing number of workers who deal with artificial stone present with signs of silicosis. A ban on the use, supply and manufacture of artificial stone products in Australia commenced July 1. Artificial stone came later to the U.S. market, Nevin said, hence the relatively recent emergence of related legal cases. A similar regulatory response in the United States was unlikely, he added.

As well as the legal consequences arising from the case, Nevin hoped the verdict would shine a light on silicosis as a medical condition. It sometimes took years for workers suffering from silicosis to receive a correct diagnosis, he explained, partly because the condition was relatively unheard of.

Metzger said that while regulation might be unlikely, the changed commercial realities arising from manufacturers being held liable for silicosis diagnoses could also signal the end of the industry.

"When the manufacturers and distributors of lethal artificial stone products have to start paying large verdicts for the horrific harm they cause to fabrication workers, insurers will stop insuring them and the manufacturers will decide to cease manufacturing and selling these deadly products," he wrote. "Instead, they will manufacture and distribute natural stone slabs and less toxic, manmade products such as porcelain and other low-silica products that are commercially available."