Johnson & Johnson Hit With $37.3M Talc Verdict in New Jersey
The verdict, in a trial of four people alleging Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder products caused mesothelioma, comes after the judge struck the defense's entire closing argument.
September 11, 2019 at 01:30 PM
4 minute read
The original version of this story was published on New Jersey Law Journal
A New Jersey jury awarded a $37.3 million verdict in a high-stakes talcum powder trial in which a judge struck the entire closing argument of Johnson & Johnson's lawyer.
In a rare consolidated trial, four people alleged that Johnson & Johnson's baby powder, which contained asbestos, caused them to get mesothelioma. The jury's award is all compensatory damages, with a punitive damages phase to follow.
"This jury clearly thoughtfully considered the evidence as evidenced by their allocations of damages based on the differing situations for each plaintiff, and they clearly had no trouble seeing the truth by the end: that there was and is asbestos in Johnson's talc powder products," said the plaintiffs' attorney, Chris Panatier of Dallas-based Simon Greenstone Panatier.
Johnson & Johnson filed a motion for mistrial Monday based on Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Ana Viscomi's decision to strike the entire closing argument of its lawyer, Diane Sullivan of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Johnson & Johnson's motion also said the plaintiffs' closing argument prejudiced the jury, because it was "soaked with venom," such as calling its executives and Sullivan "liars, predators, manipulators, poisoners, ludicrous, baby-killers, and much, much more."
In a statement Wednesday, Johnson & Johnson said it would "be looking at our appellate options as it relates to the next phase of the trial."
"This trial suffered egregious legal and evidentiary errors, including the inability to present key information to the jury and the striking of our entire closing argument, that required us to move for mistrial on nearly a dozen separate occasions," the company said in a statement. "Johnson's baby powder does not contain asbestos nor does it cause cancer, as multiple juries have found in recent months, and as confirmed by more than 40 years of independent scientific evaluations. Importantly, all of the verdicts against Johnson & Johnson that have been through the appeals process have been overturned."
Six jurors, who began deliberations Sept. 6, awarded $7.25 million to Douglas Barden and his wife, Roslyn Barden; $9.45 million to David Etheridge and his wife, Darlene Etheridge; $14.7 million to D'Angella McNeill; and $5.9 million to William Ronning and his wife, Elizabeth Ronning.
The jury voted unanimously that Johnson & Johnson exposed each plaintiff to asbestos and failed to warn about the dangers of its talcum powder products, which it defectively designed and manufactured. The jurors voted 5-1 on whether those actions caused the individual plaintiffs to get mesothelioma.
Sullivan has represented Johnson & Johnson before, winning a defense verdict last year in a similar trial in the same New Jersey court.
Panatier tried the case alongside Moshe Maimon of Levy Konigsberg in New York, and Chris Placitella of Cohen Placitella & Roth in Red Bank, New Jersey.
Last year, Panatier won a $25.75 million mesothelioma verdict against Johnson & Johnson in Los Angeles Superior Court.
In Middlesex County Superior Court, Maimon won a $117 million verdict, which included $80 million in punitive damages, in a mesothelioma trial last year involving a single plaintiff against Johnson & Johnson and talc supplier Imerys Talc America Inc., which has since filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. He also was on the team that won a $29 million compensatory verdict in a mesothelioma trial in Alameda County Superior Court earlier this year, as well as a $12 million verdict in the same California courtroom three months ago against Johnson & Johnson and Colgate-Palmolive.
Placitella is liaison counsel for the plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation in New Jersey's federal court alleging Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder products caused thousands of women to get ovarian cancer.
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