On Thursday a jury decided that Ford brake drums containing asbestos caused a man to develop mesothelioma 53 years later and awarded William Trokey and his wife Kathy $10 million each.
The two-week trial in the 22nd Judicial District Court in St. Louis was streamed live courtesy of Courtroom View Network.
Judge Christopher McGraugh read the juror finding, "The claim for personal injury due to Ford Motor Co., we the jury find in favor of William Trokey and assess the damage at $10 million. The claim of Kathy Trokey of injuries done to her husband, we find she did sustain damage and assess the damage at $10 million."
The jury vote was 11 to 1.
Attorneys for Trokey, aged 76, argued that Ford officials knew the asbestos-laden brake drums the plaintiff was installing from 1960 to 1968 contained asbestos and were hazardous, but ignored the danger.
Attorneys for Ford had argued that Trokey’s illness was contracted by some other means, that he wasn’t an employee of Ford nor even a professional mechanic, but a printer, and thus the car company was not liable.
Mesothelioma is a cancer of the lungs caused by exposure to asbestos and is almost always fatal. The disease can take decades to develop. Trokey was diagnosed with the disease in 2020.
During closing remarks Trokey sat next to his wife Kathy, his head bowed, appearing frail.
Daniel Blouin, Trokey’s attorney, told the jury the case was one of choices made by Ford Motor Co., and that the company ignored the danger from asbestos in its brake drums.
“This is about unspeakable suffering,” Blouin said. “He has to carry a vomit bag and a urinal with him and he can no longer live normally with his wife and children, because of the choices Ford made.”
Blouin accused Ford officials of a deliberate campaign of disinformation about the asbestos in their brakes because they didn’t want to admit the truth.
“They (Ford) had evidence,” Blouin said. “Everyone (scientists) agreed except Ford’s paid junk scientists, the ones who can be bought.”
Blouin said a person working on brake drums could breathe in 240 million amphiboles worth of asbestos per gram and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had identified the fibers as an “unacceptable risk.”
“They (Ford) knew back in the 1940’s,” Blouin said. “They deny what they can’t admit. Does anyone believe asbestos is safe? OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) says it’s a significant risk. Ford just doesn’t care. They ignored their own medical evidence. If Ford warned, people wouldn’t buy, it’s all about dough.”
Blouin said Ford could have removed asbestos from brake linings for $2.50 per car, but the car company wouldn’t do it.
“That’s why we’re here,” he said. “They don’t care about Bill (Trokey). I’m going to ask for a lot of money, but a billion would not be enough.”
Blouin displayed a graphic that had an inter-office quote from a Ford official saying, “I don’t want you to give any indication outside the company that we have an asbestos problem.”
“You know who has an asbestos problem?” Blouin asked. “Bill (Trokey) does. Ford had a cash problem.”
Blouin said Ford spent $48 million in defense litigation from the years 2000 to 2020.
“Now let’s make it $50 million,” he said. “Ford is liable for its deadly brakes. But they just keep making money. This (mesothelioma) is the most evil way to suffer and it lasts for years and only gets worse. How long, we don’t know, and what’s the emotional pain of knowing you’re going to die?
"None of this had to happen,” Blouin added. “Hold them responsible for their choices.”
Ford’s attorney Janika Polk said justice should be served and called Blouin’s argument a master class in misrepresentation.
“It’s cherry-picking and misleading,” she said.
Polk exhibited a chart that read, “Changing brakes has never caused an increased risk of mesothelioma.”
She said Trokey was not a career mechanic and worked only as a teenage student or working at a gas station for his father during the 1960s where he did a variety of help-out jobs in addition to brake work.
“This is an easy case if you look at the weight of evidence,” Polk said. “They (plaintiffs) introduced a lot of evidence and documents and witnesses but that doesn’t mean anything. They have the burden of proof. We have none, we were sued. They have to prove that we did something wrong.”
Polk said Trokey’s brake work was minimal, two or three jobs per week, and that he never did the work on his own but with others.
“What part of this is Ford?” she asked. “Dose (asbestos) matters. Tell us the dose specific to Ford. They want to ignore that.”
Polk said witnesses called by the plaintiffs admitted they could not calculate an asbestos dosage specific to Ford products.
“This suit should have never been filed," she said.
Polk said Ford did not manufacture the brakes used on its cars but purchased them from suppliers. She noted it was a custom in the 1960’s to use asbestos in brake linings.
“Did Ford say, I want asbestos in brakes?” Polk asked.
Polk said Trokey’s work as a printer could have been the source of his asbestos exposure.
She said chrysotile (asbestos) fibers in the brake linings were less potent short fibers, less dangerous, and that in breathing them, “Our bodies can handle it.”
“There are a lot of things in this case that don’t make sense,” Polk said. “They (plaintiffs) would do anything to make you doubt science. Ford was engaged in funding (asbestos) research long before anyone else.”
Blouin was allowed a rebuttal.
“You’re calling this man a liar?” Blouin said while pointing at Trokey. “Are you kidding me? Ford asked you to keep a blindfold on.”
Blouin accused Ford of using paid scientists to back up its junk science, and companies with a money interest in using asbestos including Georgia Pacific and Honeywell.
“Every scientist knows chrysotile causes mesothelioma,” Blouin said. “They are running to fake science with bags of money.”