Alan Scher Zagier//November 27, 2024//
A Jackson County jury has rejected a Kansas City woman’s toxic tort lawsuit over a 2019 mesothelioma diagnosis that she linked to asbestos exposure while working at a prominent office building in the late 1970s.
In a 13-day trial that concluded in early October, the jury rejected Roslyn T. Barnes’ lawsuit against Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Co., the successor in interest to a life, health and reinsurance firm for whom she worked at the BMA Tower in Kansas City.
Barnes alleged that from 1976 to 1980, while working for the Business Men’s Assurance Co., construction and engineering crews routinely performed work “in her immediate presence” that exposed her to asbestos.
Barnes was 62 at the time of her diagnosis. After an initial demand of $29 million, her final demand of $12 million was met with a counteroffer of zero, defense attorneys said. Several plaintiff’s attorneys contacted for this article did not respond to requests for comment.
“Evidence ultimately showed the company, as owner of the building, acted reasonably, including by performing air monitoring and other testing in the building for decades,” said Karen Volkman of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP in St. Louis, which represented the defendant.
“This included testing by the Kansas City Health Department and the EPA in which our client’s
predecessor cooperated, and ended in the agencies finding there were no health or safety concerns.”
Volkman noted that while the plaintiff worked as a “clerical worker in the building for a limited number of years, most of the testimony concerning exposure of building workers to asbestos came from maintenance personnel in the building, a distinction appreciated by the jury.”
The jurors were also aware that Barnes had a pending workers’ compensation claim and could recover under the workers’ compensation statute, she said.
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- Verdict for the defendant
- Premises liability (toxic torts-asbestos)
- Venue: Jackson County Circuit Court at Independence
- Case Number/Date: 2016-CV04648/Oct. 9, 2024
- Judge: Circuit Judge Marty Seaton
- Caption: Roslyn T. Barnes v. Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Co.; Honeywell International Inc.; O’Reilly Automotive Stores, Inc.; Union Pacific Railroad Co.
- Plaintiff’s attorneys: Louis Accurso (lead), Burton Haigh; Accurso Law Firm, Kansas City; Nathaniel Mudd, Maune Raichle Hartley French & Mudd LLC, St. Louis
- Defendant’s attorneys: Tracy Cowan (lead), Karen Volkman and Vincent Gunter,
- Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP, St. Louis
- Plaintiff’s experts: Dr. Arthur Frank, Drexel University, Philadelphia (environmental and occupational health); Barry Castleman, Garrett Park, Maryland (environmental consultant); Arnold Brody, Tulane University, New Orleans (pathology); William Ewing, Kennesaw, Georgia (industrial hygiene)
- Defendant’s experts: Dr. Timothy Oury, University of Pittsburgh (pathology) Douglas Lawson, DRL Associates, York, Maine (industrial hygiene)
This article credit to MOLawyersMedia