After deliberating for four hours Friday evening, a New Orleans jury awarded $10 million in damages — short of the plaintiff’s $18 million request — finding that talc powder manufactured and sold by Johnson & Johnson “was a substantial cause of Lynne Roy’s mesothelioma.” The jury set J&J’s share at $1.2 million.
The jury, which issued its verdict Friday at 9:47 p.m. after a three-week trial, found that J&J and five other defendants made products, including talc powder, that led to the 2020 death of the prominent Louisiana real estate agent’s death at the age of 76.
The Roy case marked the 11th talc powder trial win against J&J for Dallas litigation boutique Dean Omar Branham Shirley, versus just four courtroom losses.
In an interview Saturday, DOBS partner Jessica Dean said Roy was “one of the nicest, kindest women I have ever met. She gave so much of her time to pro bono or community service.”
In a statement, J&J Head of Litigation Aviva Wein said the company plans to appeal.
“We will immediately appeal this verdict, which is inconsistent with the trial testimony demonstrating that the plaintiff’s mesothelioma was caused by exposure to actual asbestos from years of smoking asbestos containing cigarettes,” said Wein, whom J&J promoted to the position Friday. “Decades of scientific studies confirm that Johnson’s Baby Powder is safe, does not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer.”
During the trial, J&J lawyers from Nelson Mullins and Kirkland & Ellis argued that Roy smoked Kent cigarettes for a short time, which could have caused the cancer.
Lawyers for Roy argued that the Kent cigarettes Roy smoked did not have filters that used asbestos.
The jury also found that defendants Colgate-Palmolive, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and Coty/Pfizer were negligent in making dangerous products and that their negligence was also a significant factor in Roy’s death. Some of the defendants other than J&J settled their claims prior to trial.
DOBS lawyers Danny Craft and Darren McDowell led the case for the plaintiff.
J&J was represented by Nelson Mullins partner Mike Brown and Kirkland partner Shaila Diwan.
The case is Lynne Roy v. Colgate-Palmolive, Civil District Court for the Parish of New Orleans, Louisiana. Case No. 2020-2718.
In the interview with The Texas Lawbook, Dean said the law firm has 11 more jury trials set against J&J in 2026, including three in September in Ohio, South Carolina and Massachusetts.