(Reuters) — A South Carolina jury has ordered former talc supplier Whittaker, Clark & Daniels to pay $29.14 million to a woman who said she developed mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos-tainted talc in cosmetic products.
The jury in Columbia on Friday also found that talc maker IMI Fabi was not responsible for plaintiff Sarah Plant’s illness, absolving it of liability, according to Jessica Dean, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
Cosmetics company Mary Kay and makeup pigment maker Color Techniques were also defendants but were dropped mid-trial after reaching confidential settlements with Ms. Flat. The lawsuit was the first over the speech claims against Mary Kay, according to Ms. Dean.
She said the sentence against Whittaker was fair but she wished the case could have been resolved before trial.
“I just hope we can come up with a better way than having juries solve (cases) every time,”
; she said. “It’s really terrible for our customers who don’t have time.”A lawyer for Whittaker declined to comment, and Italy-based IMI Fabi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Whittaker is no longer in business, and its successor is a U.S. arm of German chemical company Brenntag SE, according to court records.
Ms Plant, now 36, sued the companies last year. She said she developed mesothelioma, a deadly cancer, at age 35 after using a variety of talc products since early childhood that contained asbestos.
Leading talc product manufacturer Johnson & Johnson had also been a defendant in the case but was not part of the lawsuit because it transferred its talc debts to a subsidiary it placed in bankruptcy. The 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals in January rejected that bankruptcy strategy, and Dean said she hoped Ms. Plant would have a chance to sue the company as well.
Whittaker, Clark & Daniels last year won a reversal of a $16 million judgment in a similar cosmetic talc case against them in New York.
The case is Plant v. Avon Products Inc., et al.South Carolina Court of Common Pleas in Richland County.
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