$25 Million Awarded in Asbestos Case

By Brian Cole

Published on November 30, 2006

D’Ulisses wasn’t aware the dust in the factory where he stripped car brakes in the 1960s was harmful to his health – but a jury decided the manufacturer of the brakes did. According to D’Ulisses, as early as 1939, DaimlerChrysler Corp. and other companies knew the asbestos in their products was harmful, but failed to inform workers.

D’Ulisses, 73, of Massapequa, New York, said a fog of asbestos dust could be seen in every room of the factory he worked in. As part of his duties, he also performed repairs that required him to lay underneath ovens that were used to burn off old brake linings. He emerged many times from such work covered in dust.

Today, D’Ulisses suffers from an aggressive form of lung cancer known as mesothelioma. The only known cause of the disease is asbestos exposure.

The assistant general counsel for DaimlerChrysler Corp., Steven Hantler, said the evidence that D’Ulisses’ illness was caused by their products was based on “junk science.”

D’Ulisses’ wife, Margaret, said she hopes the case prevents others from experiencing the same fate as her husband. Doctors estimate that D’Ulisses will be able to survive his illness for about another year.

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