Mesothelioma Victim Receives Record Asbestos Verdict in New England

BOSTON, Mass., Sept. 21, 2017 -- A Superior Court jury in Boston returned a verdict of $7.55 million dollars against New England Insulation, a Canton company that distributed and installed asbestos insulation material until the early 1970s. Former New Hampshire power plant worker Gerald Sylvestre developed mesothelioma, an asbestos-caused cancer, in 2015 and is currently undergoing treatment.

 “No one should have to go through this illness, and I particularly hate the suffering it has caused my family, especially because it could have been prevented,” said Sylvestre. “My wife and I were very happy with the verdict, but what meant the most was that we got to tell our story and the jury heard it and responded as they did.”

 “The jury recognized the devastation this disease creates for families of workers exposed to hazardous materials,” said Sylvestre’s attorney, Andrew Wainwright of Boston’s Thornton Law Firm, “Had New England Insulation shared the knowledge they had of the dangers of asbestos with men working near them and with their products, this all could have been avoided.”

Today’s verdict is the largest asbestos award to date in New England, and was the result of a team effort between Thornton Law Firm, New England's leading asbestos firm, and Waters and Kraus, a nationally recognized asbestos trial firm.

 “The jury’s verdict is a rare bit of good news for the Sylvestre family, given the suffering the family has endured,” said Gary Paul, a Waters Kraus & Paul partner, who served as lead trial counsel. “The jury placed the blame squarely where it belongs -- with NEI, who had long-standing knowledge of the dangers of asbestos and selfishly chose profitability over people’s lives.”

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Thornton Law Firm was founded in 1978 by Michael Thornton and two other attorneys doing groundbreaking work for victims of mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. Now the leading injury law firm in Massachusetts and the largest plaintiff law firm in New England, the firm has 18 attorneys representing thousands of clients in a wide variety of plaintiff-side work. The firm has represented asbestos victims in New England for nearly 40 years and this commitment led Thornton Law Firm to aid in the creation of the Thornton House, which provides housing for mesothelioma and asbestos disease patients and families. 

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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d6bacbcf-c978-41cd-9f58-4459323cb694

David McMorris
Thornton Law Firm
617-694-3934