According to attorneys with the Simmons Firm, a rare Madison County asbestos trial settled for an undisclosed amount Sunday night.
Jurors were dismissed Monday morning.
The trial ended after just one day of testimony in Associate Judge Stephen Stobbs’ courtroom. Opening statements began on Friday.
Crane Co., a company that supplied mechanical gaskets and valves, was the only remaining defendant at the time of trial.
The case was filed by the Simmons Firm, but attorney Troy Chandler of Chandler McNulty in Houston delivered opening statements for the plaintiffs.
Attorney Geoffrey Davis of K&L Gates in Las Angeles delivered opening statements for Crane Co. Jeff Hebrank of HeplerBroom in Edwardsville is acting as local counsel for the defense.
Plaintiffs Roy and Peggy Bale of Boise, Idaho, filed the complaint on March 6, 2015.
The original complaint states that Roy Bale developed mesothelioma as a result of asbestos exposure while working as a pipefitter at various locations, mostly in Idaho, from 1967 to 2007. However, parties said Bale was a pipefitter from 1968 until 2012 during Friday’s testimonies.
Roy Bale alleges he removed and replaced asbestos-containing gaskets and valves manufactured by Crane Co. hundreds of times throughout his career as a pipefitter.
In one brief filed on record, the plaintiff said he worked specifically with Crane gaskets from 1970 to 1988 in Boise, Idaho.
The plaintiff also alleges he removed asbestos-containing mud insulation from the body of Crane and Stockholm valves.
During opening statements, Davis argued that Crane Co. is not responsible for causing Roy Bale’s mesothelioma because it has not used asbestos in its products since 1953, which was more than a decade before the plaintiff began working with Crane products.
In a jurisdiction often referred to as the “nation’s asbestos docket,” Bale’s suit is the first asbestos case to go to trial in Madison County since February 2014, which resulted in a defense verdict in favor of Crane Co.
Madison County Circuit Court case number 15-L-303