Jurisdiction: Calif. Super., Los Angeles Co.

Mae Moore’s three adult daughters Joy Moore, Kathryn Pratt and Carol Farquharson — by and through guardian Leslie Farquharson (collectively, the Moore family) — filed suit in 2021 against multiple companies in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

The Moore family alleged Mae Moore was exposed to asbestos in consumer talc products, leading to her mesothelioma diagnosis in 2020 and her death in 2021 at age 88. The case went to trial solely against Johnson & Johnson.

The jury found J&J was negligent and that its negligence was a substantial factor in Mae Moore’s mesothelioma. The jury found that J&J’s baby powder and Shower to Shower products contained a defect when they left J&J’s possession and that the defect was a substantial factor in Mae Moore’s mesothelioma. The jury found the products failed to perform as an ordinary consumer would have expected when used in a reasonably foreseeable way.

The jury awarded $966 million in total.

The jury awarded $6 million in noneconomic damages for Mae Moore’s past physical pain, mental suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, physical impairment, inconvenience, grief, anxiety, humiliation and emotional distress. The jury awarded Joy Moore $4 million and Pratt and Farquharson $3 million each in noneconomic damages, for a total of $16 million in non-economic damages.  

Nonparty companies Avon Products Inc., Chanel Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Co. and Revlon Inc. were found not to have acted negligently or to have been at fault. The jury then found clear and convincing evidence that J&J and one or more of its officers, directors or managing agents acted with malice, oppression or fraud. The jury awarded $950 million in punitive damages.

Read the full decision here.

Read the Order here.

Read the Verdict Form here.