Welder Wins $5.8M Jury Verdict

A federal jury in Ohio has awarded nearly $5.8 million to a former welder who claimed that his exposure to manganese fumes from welding rods caused him permanent neurological injuries.

The jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio found that ESAB Group Inc., Lincoln Electric Co., BOC Group Inc. and Hobart Brothers Co. failed to provide adequate warnings or instructions to welder Curt Cooley.

The jury awarded $1.25 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. However, the jury found that Cooley was partly responsible (37 percent) for his injuries, so the defendants will only have to pay $787,500 in compensatory damages.

The defendants will still have to pay the full $5 million in punitive damages.

The jury rejected a loss-of-consortium claim filed by Cooley's wife, Nancy.

There are hundreds of consolidated cases in the welding fume multidistrict litigation consisting of lawsuits former welders filed against various manufacturers, suppliers and distributors of welding rods.

The complaints allege the fumes emitted by the welding rods cause neurological disorders such as manganese poisoning and Parkinson's disease.

The plaintiffs also charged that the defendants' products were defective because the companies did not adequately warn users that the rods produced harmful fumes.

In Curt Cooley's 2005 complaint, he said he developed permanent neurological, emotional and physical problems as a result of exposure to welding fumes.

After discovery was concluded, U.S. District Judge Kathleen O'Malley, who presides over the welding fume MDL, ordered a number of bellwether trials to be held to test the viability of some of the plaintiffs' claims.

Five previous trials have resulted in three defense verdicts and two for the plaintiffs.

The next bellwether trial, Ray v. Lincoln Electric Co., No. 04-CV-18252, is scheduled for Jan. 25, 2010.