Dean Omar Branham Shirley, the Dallas-based law firm that has racked up numerous wins on behalf of clients who allege Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder caused their mesothelioma, has done it again.
In a verdict returned by a California jury Monday evening, jurors determined Mae Moore, who died in December 2021 of mesothelioma, was exposed to Johnson’s baby powder or Shower to Shower, a body powder product, that contained asbestos, that the company was negligent in selling the product and that it was a substantial cause of Moore contracting mesothelioma.
Jurors also held the company failed to adequately warn of the dangers of the products, which were “known or knowable in light of the scientific and medical knowledge that was generally accepted in the scientific community at the time of manufacture, distribution [and] sale.”
For pain and suffering, the jury awarded Moore $6 million and her three adult children a collective $10 million in damages “for the loss of Mae Moore’s love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, society, moral support, training and advice.”
The panel rejected arguments that Avon, Chanel Inc., Colgate-Palmolive and Revlon Inc., who were all non-parties in the lawsuit, were negligent or at fault for Moore’s injuries. The jurors determined none of the following products were responsible for Moore’s injuries: Skin So Soft, Night Magic, Sweet Honesty, Timeless, Chanel No. 5, Chanel No. 19, Cashmere Bouquet and Jean Naté.
The jury slammed Johnson & Johnson with $950 million in punitive damages.
This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.
DOBS lawyers Danny Kraft and Venus Burns represented the plaintiff.
The case number is CV-05513 in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.