03/14/2008 - National Legal News

A San Francisco jury has awarded more than $7 million in a lawsuit involving a woman who developed a rare form of lung cancer after being exposed to asbestos in products she used while operating a home-remodeling business.

On Monday, jurors found in favor of 69-year-old Joan Mahoney and her husband, Daniel, who filed a lawsuit against Georgia Pacific Corp. The couple claims that products made by Georgia Pacific contained significant amounts of asbestos, a material that was used for insulation, fireproofing, and other purposes before it was found to cause cancer.

Attorneys for the couple say that while Mahoney and her husband operated their remodeling business, they used an asbestos compound manufactured by Georgia Pacific to repair cracks in sheet rock. The couple’s suit alleges that Georgia Pacific continued to produce and sell the compound even after asbestos was linked to mesothelioma – an aggressive form of lung cancer – and effective substitutes for the material became available.

In a statement, Georgia Pacific attorney John Childs said the company plans to appeal the jury’s verdict. He added that Mahoney’s infrequent use of the compound in question – as well as the type of asbestos it contained – makes it unlikely that the product caused her cancer.

Mahoney now lives in South Lake Tahoe with her husband. Following the trial, her attorney quoted her as saying that she’s happy she was able to change the corporate conduct of Georgia Pacific in the last stages of her life.