Jury Awards $7.1 Million in Silicosis Wrongful Death Case but Assigns Only Three Percent of Fault to the Trial Defendants

Ramirez-Soriano v. Antolini Luigi & C.S.P.A. (Super. Ct. L.A. County, Aug. 19, 2026, No. 30-2024-01439369-CU-TT-CXC, coordinated under JCCP No. 5378)

On August 19, 2026, a Santa Monica jury found for the family of Gerardo Ramirez-Soriano and against Dal-Tile Distribution, LLC, Dal-Tile Tennessee, LLC, and Paragon Industries, Inc., the three defendants remaining at trial in this coordinated silicosis wrongful death action. Total damages came to $7.1 million. The jury awarded the six wrongful death plaintiffs $2.4 million in economic damages and $3.5 million in non-economic damages, and awarded a further $1.2 million for the non-economic damages the decedent sustained before his death.

The allocation of fault, however, defined the verdict: the jury assigned 2 percent to the Dal-Tile entities, 1 percent to Paragon Industries, 35 percent to the decedent himself, and 62 percent to all others. Because Civil Code section 1431.2 makes each defendant severally liable for non-economic damages in proportion to its own fault, the combined 3 percent share sharply limits the defendants’ exposure on the $4.7 million non-economic award. A post-trial hearing on plaintiffs’ request to impose liability on parent Dal-Tile, LLC under an equitable veil-piercing theory is set for September 4, 2026.