Products Liability Law Reporter

From 1983 to 1984, Cipriano Ramirez worked as a janitor sweeping around the talc product bottling lines at an Avon Products, Inc., facility in Morton Grove, Ill., which processed asbestos-containing talc products. In 2023, Ramirez, 67, was diagnosed as having pleural mesothelioma. Despite chemotherapy and immunotherapy, his condition is terminal. His past medical expenses totaled $1.4 million.

Ramirez and his wife sued Avon Products, Inc., alleging the company was liable for Ramirez’s cancer diagnosis. The plaintiffs asserted the defendant knew that its talc products contained asbestos and that its so-called screening protocols were inadequate and would not protect workers from this deadly hazard.

The jury awarded $24.4 million.

Citation: Ramirez v. Avon Prods., Inc., No. 2023L004386 (Ill. Cir. Ct. Cook Cnty. July 26, 2024).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member Jennifer Alesio, San Francisco; AAJ member James Kramer, New York City; and AAJ members Taylor Kerns, Philip Proud, and Michael Cody Favilla, all of Alton, Ill.

Plaintiff experts: Gerald Markowitz, history, and Jaqueline Moline, occupational medicine, both of New York City; William Longo, materials science, Atlanta; Arnold Brody, cellular biology, Boca Raton, Fla.; and Mark Krekeler, geology, Cincinnati.

Defense experts: Jennifer Pierce, toxicology, Chicago; and Gregory Diette, epidemiology, Baltimore.