From 1965 to 1999, plaintiffs’ decedent Gordon Bankhead worked as a parts man working around heavy-duty vehicles. He spent most of his career at Sea-Land Shipping Company in Oakland, where he regularly handled asbestos-containing brakes, which allegedly caused him to breathe in asbestos dust. In January 2010, Bankhead, 66, was diagnosed with mesothelioma, which is an aggressive, incurable cancer that often stems from exposure to asbestos. He passed away two years later, on Oct. 18, 2011, due to complications from the cancer. Before he passed away, the decedent and his wife, Emily Bankhead, sued Pneumo Abex LLC and Carlisle Corp., which manufactured the vast majority of the brake linings that the decedent was exposed to. They also sued ArvinMeritor Inc., which attached the brake linings to brake shoes and axles that were sold to the decedent’s employers, and Kelsey-Hayes, which supplied brake components to the decedent’s employers. Mr. and Mrs. Bankhead alleged the defendants were aware of the deadly health effects of breathing asbestos dust since at least the 1940s, but that the defendants did not begin warning its customers of those effects, if at all, until years after Bankhead was exposed to the asbestos-containing brakes. On Jan. 6, 2011, the jury found that Pneumo Abex and Carlisle Corp. were each 30 percent liable for Mr. Bankhead’s mesothelioma, and that ArvinMeritor and Kelsey-Hayes were each 15 percent liable, and that Mr. Bankhead’s employers were 10 percent liable. Thus, the jury awarded Mr. and Mrs. Bankhead economic, non-economic and punitive damages. However, Kelsey-Hayes had settled for a confidential amount prior to trial and Carlisle Corp. settled for a confidential amount before the start of the punitive damages phase. (For a complete report of the underlying action, please see VerdictSearch California, volume 10, issue 10.) Following Mr. Bankhead’s death, his wife, Emily Bankhead, and two adult daughters from another marriage, Tammy Bankhead and Debbie Bankhead-Meiers, filed a new action against Pneumo Abex, ArvinMeritor, and several companies not initially named in the prior suit. The decedent’s family sought compensation for their loss of Mr. Bankhead’s companionship for all the years by which his life was cut short. ArvinMeritor and several other parties that were added to the wrongful death lawsuit were ultimately let out of the case, and the matter continued against Pneumo Abex only. However, the court ruled that since Mrs. Bankhead already prevailed against Pneumo Abex on liability in the prior lawsuit, the jury on the second trial would not be instructed as to the decedent’s cause of death and Pneumo Abex would not be allowed to dispute its responsibility for the decedent’s death. Thus, the second trial commenced on Jan. 13, 2014, in order to determine the decedent’s family’s non-economic wrongful death damages., Gordon Bankhead was diagnosed with mesothelioma, which he treated with chemotherapy. He ultimately died due to complications from his condition on Oct. 18, 2011. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that the decedent’s life was cut short by 17 years, causing his wife and two adult daughters to miss out on many more years of memories, including activities and vacations they would regularly take. Thus, the decedent’s family sought recovery of damages for the loss of the decedent’s love, care, affection, companionship, comfort, support, guidance, and society. In addition, the decedent’s wife sought recovery of damages for the loss of intimacy with her husband. The decedent’s wife sought a damages award in the amount of eight figures, while the two daughters sought substantial amounts for their significant loss. Counsel for Pneumo Abex contended that an award less than $1 million for the decedent’s wife would probably not be reasonable and that the decedent’s adult children would logically be entitled to something less than a widowed wife.