Color Marble Dropped from Silicosis Case

LOS ANGELES – The list of defendants, along with awarded damages, narrowed earlier this month in a high-profile case involving silicosis and engineered stone.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William Fahey dropped stone distributor Color Marble Inc. on Oct. 9 from the Gustavo Reyes-Gonzales case, negating a possible $1.3 million awarded by a jury in August.

Fahey issued a “judgement notwithstanding the verdict,” citing several procedural points and a lack of “substantial” evidence concerning Color Marble.

A Superior Court jury cited negligence with the Diamond Bar, Calif.-based distributor, along with surface manufacturers Cambria Company LLC and Caesarstone USA, in ordering more than $52 million in damages to Reyes-Gonzales on Aug. 7. The former fabrication worker contracted silicosis and underwent a double lung transplant.

During the trial, attorneys for Color Marble argued that there was no proof that it provided any of the slabs Reyes-Gonzales handled. Reyes-Gonzales and other employees testified about slab origins.

In the verdict, the jury found Color Marble guilty of negligence and set a percentage of cause of 2.5%. Given the $52.4 million in total damages set by the verdict, Color Marble would’ve been responsible for $1.31 million.

Fahey agreed with Color Marble’s post-verdict arguments, however, to be exempted from the verdict, overruling procedural objections from Reyes-Gonzales’ attorneys.

Fahey also noted the lack of evidence on Color Marble actually providing materials that proved harmful to Reyes-Gonzales. While Color Marble officials testified in the case, Fahey ruled “that testimony does not show that Color Marble sold or provided any stone slabs to plaintiff or his employees.”

Fahey also noted Color Marble received information on potential harm associated “with its sale of stone slabs” until two years after Reyes-Gonzales’ silicosis diagnosis and more than a year after his February 2023 lung-transplant surgery.

Fahey also noted “very vague testimony” by Reyes-Gonzales and two co-workers on working on slabs from Color Marble. While the jury found that evidence credible, Fahey ruled that “this vague testimony did not meet all of the essentials required in this case, including the duty of care of a retailer.”

Fahey also found that the verdict against Color Marble was inconsistent. While the jury found the distributor liable for negligence, it overwhelming dismissed product-liability claims of product-liability claims of failure to warn and design defect – while citing both Caesarstone and Cambria.

“The Court concludes that because the jury found that Color Marble was not strictly liable for distributing and failure to warn about an allegedly defecting product, it is ‘hoplessly inconsistent’ to find Color Marble liable for negligence based on those same theories.”

The jury verdicts against Caesarstone and Cambria remain in place. Both companies are appealing the case.