ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis grand jury has ordered Ford Motor Company to pay a county in south St. Louis $20 million.
The jury’s verdict ended a two-week asbestos trial in St. Louis Circuit Court on Thursday.
The jury found Ford liable in William Trokey’s 2020 diagnosis of mesothelioma, a form of cancer.
Trokey, 76, sued the auto company over exposure to asbestos while working as a gas station mechanic repairing Ford brakes in the 1960s, which his law firm, Simmons Hanly Conroy, says led to his illness.
The jury awarded him $10 million and his wife $10 million in punitive damages.
Half of the $10 million in punitive damages goes to the state Compensation Fund for Victims of Tort as required by Missouri law.
A Ford spokesman said: “Our condolences go out to the Trokey family and while we respect the jury’s decision, we plan to appeal.”