Manufacturer Found Mainly Liable in Silicosis Case

LONG BEACH, Calif. – A jury here on Oct. 26 awarded a former fabricator $67.7 million in a silicosis workplace-injury case – and possibly set a new precedent in proposed damage assessment.

The jury ruled for Dennys Rene Rivas Williams in a case first filed in April 2023, stating that he developed silicosis while working with engineered stone during work at Primus Marble in Pacoima, Calif., from 2015-2022.

The difference between Rivas Williams’ case and five previous judgements for silicosis victims is that a materials manufacturer – Caesarstone – received the majority share of responsibility.

The jury assessed Caesarstone Ltd. and its U.S. division Caesarstone USA with 69.1% of the responsibility for Rivas Williams’ condition, making the surface maker possibly liable for $46.7 million in damages.

The decision reverses the trend in other silicosis decisions, where a fabrication shop is usually held largely responsible for damages. With the Rivas Williams case, the jury found Primas Marble 30% responsible.

The Rivas Williams jury also split the remaining 0.9% of responsibility among surface manufacturers and suppliers named in the original filing of the lawsuit: Architectural Surfaces Group, Arizona Tile, Bedrosians, Dal-Tile, Color Marble, Cosentino, Francini, LX Hausys (noted by the jury by “LG Hausys”), and Walker Zanger.

However, the jury didn’t’ cite other companies included in the original filing, including Cambria, HanStone, MSI, Vadara, Vicostone, and Wilsonart.

The jury awarded $60 million in damages, plus $7.25 million in expenses and loss of earnings and household services. An additional stipulated $466,000 will be added by Judge Michele Flurer after the verdict.

The jury agreed that Caesarstone’s product design was “a substantial factor in causing harm” to Rivas Williams, and the benefits of the product design didn’t outweigh risks.

The jury also acknowledged that the product was misused after leaving Caesarstone’s possession, but the misuse wasn’t “so highly extraordinary that it was not reasonable foreseeable” to Caesarstone.

A press release from Brayton Purcell LLP, the law firm representing Rivas Williams, noted he received a silicosis diagnosis in 2022 at age 35 and underwent a double-lung transplant two years later. He is expected to have another double-lung transplant next year and possibly succumb to the disease in 2030.