Marcella v. Huntington Ingalls

81-year-old Ronald Marcella was diagnosed in 2023 with cancer and died three months later. A post-mortem examination by Dr. Brent Staggs confirmed it was asbestos-related mesothelioma. The decedent’s wife and children sued the successor company to Avondale Shipyards, where the plaintiff had worked from 1962 to 1964. The jury, after 80 minutes of deliberations, found the company solely at fault, rejecting apportionment to several third-party defendants, and awarded general damages of $6.625 million.

The decedent was employed as a clerk in the production department and walked across the shipyard in his work, encountering exposure to asbestos from the work of other craftsmen who worked with asbestos-containing products in his presence. There was no evidence of other asbestos exposure. The plaintiff’s experts included Staggs, asbestos historian Gerald Markowitz, and industrial hygienist Jerome Spear.

The action was removed by the defendant from Louisiana state court to district court. The defendant brought in third-party contribution defendants, as potential sources of the decedent’s exposure at the shipyard, including Uniroyal, Foster Wheeler, General Electric, Paramount Global and Bayer CropScience.

The defendant has moved for remittitur and for a new trial. The plaintiff has moved for pre- and post-judgment interest in the amount of $1.125 million.

A copy of the decision is attached.