Page Updated April 28, 2025

$3.45 Million Awarded to Family of Virginia Mesothelioma Victim

Page Reviewed and Edited by

Mesothelioma Attorney Paul Danziger

In 2022, Jim Ketcham died of malignant mesothelioma. Following his death, his grieving family decided to seek justice on his behalf. Blaming John Crane, Inc. for having exposed him to asbestos, they filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company. After hearing extensive testimony in the case, a Virginia jury agreed with the victim’s survivors and ordered the notorious asbestos manufacturer to pay $3.45 million in damages.

Occupational Exposure to Asbestos Led to Millwright’s Death

Over the course of eleven days, a Newport News, Virginia jury heard details of how the mesothelioma victim’s work as a millwright had exposed him to asbestos in John Crane, Inc.’s products. While working at the DuPont Spruance plant in Chesterfield County from 1961 to 1979, he had been assigned responsibility for maintaining and repairing pumps, valves, and other equipment. That work required cleaning, removing, and replacing John Crane, Inc. gaskets and packing.

Expert witnesses testified that when the mesothelioma victim had manipulated these asbestos-containing parts, it generated dust that was filled with microscopic particles of the toxic mineral. When Mr. Ketcham inhaled that dust, it started a biological process of inflammation and genetic damage within his cells that ultimately led to his death.

Jury Hears Details of Mesothelioma Victim’s Work Process

Though John Crane, Inc.’s attorneys argued that they had no responsibility for Mr. Ketcham’s mesothelioma death, the victim’s attorneys presented evidence that the company knew of the dangers of asbestos at the time that he worked with their products, but had chosen not to take action to warn the public of its dangers until 1983. This information, combined with Mr. Ketcham’s deposition testimony before his death describing how he’d removed asbestos gaskets using wire brushes and hammers and testimony from his survivors about the impact of his death, led the jury to the significant monetary award.

The jury, hearing of the family’s loss and the suffering the mesothelioma caused Mr. Ketchum before his death, agreed that the company had breached its duty of care “by selling unreasonably dangerous products without warning” and ordered the company to compensate the victim’s family.

If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net have the resources you need. Contact us today at 1-800-692-8608 to learn more.