Barber’s Wife Dies of Mesothelioma Blamed on Asbestos in Talcum Powder

The familiar sight of a barber sprinkling talc on a client’s neck seems harmless and normal, but according to Eddie and Mildred Germain it was exposure to that white powder that caused their wife and mother’s mesothelioma and death. Now they are seeking justice from the companies that failed to warn them that the product used every day in Mr. Germain’s barber shop contained asbestos, a deadly carcinogen.

Michelle Germain Was Just Sixty Years Old When She Died of Mesothelioma

Though Mrs. Germain was young when she was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, the illness claimed her life quickly. She died in 2017, just six months after learning of her illness, but that was enough time for the family to learn there was asbestos in the Clubman talc powder her barber husband used throughout his career. They have filed suit against the product’s manufacturers and their talc suppliers, seeking compensation for her wrongful death and the damages that the entire family has suffered as a result.

In deposition testimony provided before her mesothelioma death, Mrs. Germain explained that her husband Eddie had worked as a barber in New York from 1978 through 1993, initially working in a shop part-time and then taking on more hours. He eventually purchased the shop, and she described visiting him at work and watching as he would sprinkle talcum powder on a brush and apply it to the back of a customer’s neck over a dozen times a day. She recalled washing his powder-covered aprons, and how in the years that followed they moved to Florida and he continued working as a barber and using the same product. Even after he retired he would cut hair in their garage and she would sweep it from the floor, giving rise to clouds of the same powder she had inhaled constantly over the years.

Talc Companies Attempt to Have Mesothelioma Case Dismissed

Though Johnson & Johnson, Colgate-Palmolive and various talc suppliers filed motions to have the mesothelioma lawsuit against them dismissed, the judge hearing their arguments denied those requests, stating that there were issues of fact that needed to be heard and decided by a jury. The family that lost their wife and mother will continue seeking justice.