A Pennsylvania jury has ordered ExxonMobil to pay $725.5 million to a former mechanic who claimed toxic chemicals in the company’s gasoline and solvents caused his cancer, plaintiffs’ lawyers said. Ta.
After a trial in Philadelphia state court, former mechanic Paul Gill claims he was exposed to benzene in ExxonMobil products while working at a gas station between 1975 and 1980. announced a 10-2 verdict on Thursday.
After a trial that lasted more than a week, a jury found Exxon liable for failing to warn about the health risks of benzene, which the Environmental Protection Agency classifies as a known carcinogen.
The entire judgment was for damages, according to Gill’s attorney.
An Exxon spokeswoman called the ruling “unreasonable,” and said the company would ask the court to overturn the ruling and would “exhaust all available appeals.”
The 67-year-old former mechanic said in a 2020 lawsuit that he used petroleum products to clean car parts with his bare hands and was exposed to benzene through direct skin contact and inhalation.
He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a type of blood cancer, in 2019.
“This ruling is important because it is a finding that their gasoline caused cancer,” Patrick Wigle, Gill’s attorney, said in a statement. “ExxonMobil has known for decades that benzene causes cancer, but he has resisted warning the public and taking basic precautions to limit exposure.”
Benzene is widely used in the United States as a motor fuel, a solvent for resins and plastics, and for other industrial purposes.
The EPA limits the amount of benzene allowed in fuels, but it also says that benzene can also be present in emissions from coal and oil combustion, motor vehicle exhaust, and gas station evaporation. Says.
