November 13th, 2006

A jury in Northampton County has found that a company was not responsible for the asbestos exposure suffered by Joseph Smith, the plaintiff in the case. The jury ruled that Mr. Smith, a man from Palmer Township, was not exposed to asbestos through gaskets manufactured by a company called Garlock Sealing Technologies.

During the trial, which lasted nine days, lawyers for Smith claimed that he had been exposed to the deadly substance through asbestos that was used in the gaskets made by the company when he worked at FL Smith during the 1970s and 1980s. However, defense lawyers claimed that gaskets made by Garlock had not been used by the plaintiff during this time.

The lawsuit was originally filed by Smith and his wife last year, and at that time a number of defendants were named as being partially responsible for the exposure. However, no others apart from Garlock actually went to trial.

After the ruling made by the Northampton County jury, a lawyer for the plaintiff stated: "We are obviously disappointed and felt the evidence was more than sufficient to prove our case."