DALLAS, March 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A Dallas
County jury has awarded nearly $9
million to the survivors of a longtime Bell Helicopter
Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) employee who died of complications from
mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that forms in the lining of the lungs
and is primarily caused by asbestos exposure.
Billy Dickson, a mechanical
engineer at the Texas aerospace
company for 38 years, died in 2013 at age 74. Jurors in the 95th
District Court returned their verdict March
27 following a week-long trial and five hours of
deliberations. They found there was "clear and convincing evidence"
that Bell Helicopter was "grossly negligent" in exposing Mr.
Dickson to asbestos.
Trial testimony showed that Mr. Dickson, who at one time tested
components used to build helicopters for the Vietnam War, was often
exposed to asbestos in amounts 200 times greater than is considered
permissible by government safety standards.
"There was not a company-based respiratory protection policy in
place during the time of Billy's exposure. Asbestos air
concentrations were so high that Mr. Dickson often found himself
surrounded in clouds of asbestos dust," said attorney Darren
McDowell of Dallas-based Simon
Greenstone Panatier Bartlett P.C., who along with Samuel Iola,
represented the Dickson family. "It was an ungodly amount of
asbestos exposure."
Evidence at trial revealed Bell Helicopter knew it was exposing
employees to unreasonably dangerous asbestos levels eight years
before Mr. Dickson began working at the company's plant in
Hurst, Texas.
"They knew in 1955 that asbestos exposure could be fatal, but
did not do anything until the mid-1970s, and then only
semi-complied," Mr. McDowell said. "Mr. Dickson was passionate
about many things, including his grandchildren, the Texas Rangers
and his job. He was the kind of worker who would do anything for
his company. For Bell to have a total lack of regard for asbestos
danger was absolutely heartbreaking to him."
The case is Shirley Dickson,
et al. v. Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., No. DC-12-05995-D.
Simon Greenstone Panatier Bartlett, P.C. is a nationally
recognized trial law firm with a reputation for creative and
aggressive representation of clients in a wide variety of
catastrophic personal injury matters nationwide. For more
information, visit http://www.sgpblaw.com/.
For more information, contact Jason Sickles at 214-559-4630 or
jason@androvett.com.
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SOURCE Simon Greenstone Panatier Bartlett, PC