Craig Thompson Received Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict in Asbestos Suit Against Attransco Inc.

A Maryland special appeals court affirmed a judgment notwithstanding the verdict in an asbestos suit against Attransco Inc., ruling that the terminally ill son of a merchant mariner failed to provide sufficient evidence to support a $10 million jury verdict.

Suffering from mesothelioma, Leroy Conway Jr. in 2010 had been awarded $9.3 million for pain and suffering and more than $636,000 to cover medical expenses from Attransco, which he alleged failed to take steps that could have prevented his childhood exposure to the asbestos particles that caked his father’s work clothes.

Later that year, the trial court judge granted the JNOV, and a panel of three special appeals court judges also sided with Attransco, saying Conway failed to produce testimony or evidence describing what his father actually did while working on the ship or how often he might have been exposed to asbestos.

Although direct evidence is not necessary for a jury to find exposure, there must be some form of evidence so exposure is not presumed, the court said.

"In reaching the verdict, the jury took a speculative leap of faith based on general testimony to infer that Conway Sr. was actually exposed to asbestos dust while working on the Baltimore Trader," last week's decision said. "That leap was not supported by the evidence."

Proving the exposure using circumstantial evidence required Conway to show how often asbestos-containing insulation, gaskets and packing were disturbed in the engine room of the ship and how close Conway Sr. was in distance and time to the dust produced, as well as the specifics of how he was allegedly exposed to that asbestos brought home by his father — specifics Conway lacked in his argument, according to the decision.

Attransco attorney Craig A. Thompson said the initial award was particularly significant because the plaintiff was the son of an employee and that employee only worked around others who worked with asbestos. The plaintiff in the case was "three times removed" from Attransco, Thompson said.

"If this huge verdict was upheld, it could have significantly altered Maryland law on the issue of take-home exposure," Attransco attorney Craig A. Thompson said. "Fortunately the trial court and the court of special appeals did not let that happen."

From 1974 to 1977, Conway’s father worked as engineman on an oil tanker owned and operated by Attransco. Lacking proper protections, he unwittingly brought the carcinogenic asbestos fibers into his home when he returned from work, causing the plaintiff's illness, according to the complaint.

Attransco argued that it wasn't liable for the injuries because it only became aware of the asbestos hazard in 1980, but the protest failed to sway the jury, which found that the freight company should have known of the dangers long before then.

Judges James R. Eyler, Albert J. Matricciani and Frederick J. Sharer sat on the panel for the Court of Special Appeals.

Attransco is represented by Michael DeVinne and Craig A. Thompson of Venable LLP

Conway is represented by Lauren Jacobsen and Demetrios Zacharopoulos of Waters & Krause LLP.

The case is Leroy Conway et al. v. Attransco Inc. et al., case number 2630 in the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.