Jury’s Anger Leads to $26.5 Million Mesothelioma Judgment Against Pabst Blue Ribbon

A Wisconsin jury hearing a mesothelioma lawsuit was so angered by the position taken by Pabst Blue Ribbon that they awarded the victim’s family $26.5 million in punitive damages — and two jurors wanted to set the award even higher.

Mesothelioma Victim’s Family Says Pabst Failed to Provide Safe Work Environment

When Gerald “Jerry” Lorbiecki was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, he filed claims against two of his former employers: Wisconsin Electric and Pabst Blue Ribbon. The former steamfitter accused both companies of exposing him to asbestos, and in doing so failing to provide him with a safe work environment. Though the utility company settled the case against them out of court, Pabst refused to do so, and that case went to trial.

Rather than acknowledge their responsibility for Mr. Lorbiecki’s mesothelioma, Pabst defended the fact that they had not protected their workers. Confronted with evidence that asbestos was so common in their building that it was even present in the worker’s lunchroom, the company pleaded ignorance of asbestos’ dangers.  When pressed further on why Pabst safety officers hadn’t taken protective action on behalf of employees, the jury heard company officers say that rather than reading safety literature they had spent their time reading about brewing beer. 

Dissenting Jurors Wanted to Give More Money to Mesothelioma Victim’s Family

The dismissive attitude taken by Pabst and the company’s failure to settle with the mesothelioma victim’s family made a significant impression on the Wisconsin jury. They voted 10-2 to award the family $6.45 million in actual damages and another $20 million in punitive damages meant to send a message about the company’s actions. The two who voted against the award wanted to give the family even more money to encourage companies in similar situations to spare families the pain of a protracted court proceeding.