Avon Hit With $52.1M Verdict for Asbestos-Contaminated Talc

A California jury awarded $52.1 million to an Arizona woman diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer against cosmetics giant Avon and a forklift manufacturer.

Rita-Ann Chapman, 76, alleged that she had been using Avon products for most of her life and that she recently learned Avon products contained asbestos-contaminated talc. She blamed additional secondhand asbestos exposure on forklift maker Hyster-Yale Group Inc. Her husband Gary handled asbestos products while working at Hyster.

Following a week of deliberation, the jury handed down a verdict placing the plaintiff’s actual damages at nearly $41 million, including economic loss, past, present, and future loss, as well as her husband’s loss of his wife’s companionship.

The jury further determined that Avon Products was responsible for 90% of the harm caused to Chapman, with her husband's former employer, Hyster, being the remaining 10%.

Chapman won her case in California Superior Court earlier this month.

Mesothelioma is a rare cancer. Inhalation or ingestion of asbestos fibers is the primary cause of the incurable condition.

Although occupational exposure once dominated asbestos litigation, the field is widely expanding today with the recent discovery of asbestos-contaminated talc products. Chapman’s combined award is a look at the future and past of asbestos litigation.