Louisiana Mesothelioma Settlements: What Is Your Asbestos Case Worth?

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, the most urgent question is often: ‘How will we pay for this?‘ In Louisiana, juries have a long history of holding companies like Ford, Union Carbide, and local shipyards accountable with multi-million dollar awards. While every case is unique, understanding recent verdicts—ranging from $1 million settlements to landmark $36 million trials—can help your family plan for the future.

To get a personalized estimate of your claim’s value, visit our main Louisiana Mesothelioma & Asbestos Lawyer page or call us for a free case evaluation.

What Drives the Value of a Mesothelioma Claim?

Insurance companies and juries look at several key factors when determining a settlement amount:

• Diagnosis & Severity: Mesothelioma carries the highest settlement values due to its aggressive nature.
• Exposure Site: Was it a shipyard, refinery, or commercial building?
• The “Substantial Factor” Rule: We must prove your exposure at a specific site (like Avondale Shipyard or a Baton Rouge refinery) was a major cause of the illness.
• Liability: How many companies can be held responsible for your exposure?
• Victim Age: Economic losses like lost wages are calculated differently based on age.
• Economic Losses: This includes every medical bill, travel expense, and dollar of lost wages.
• General Damages: This is the “human cost”—pain, suffering, and the loss of quality time with your family.

Landmark Louisiana Verdicts: Setting the Standard

Recent cases in Louisiana have pushed compensation to new heights. These numbers aren’t just statistics; they are the benchmarks for your own claim.

The $10.3 Million Stauder Verdict

In 2022, a jury awarded $10.3 million to a worker exposed to asbestos at the Union Carbide plant in Taft. This case proved that large chemical corporations can and will be held liable for decades-old safety failures.

The $4.4 Million Oddo Case

This Jefferson Parish case involved a local handyman exposed while working on Ford vehicles. It serves as a baseline for “secondary” or “shade-tree” exposure cases.

The “Pete Standard” ($5 Million Baseline)

The Louisiana Supreme Court recently established what is known as the “Pete Standard.” This effectively sets a benchmark of roughly $5 million for general damages alone in mesothelioma cases.

Mesothelioma has been called “the working man’s disease” as it tends to effect a high percentage of blue collar workers who were exposed to asbestos in various construction trades decades ago. A diagnosis of mesothelioma can be devastating and often leads to many legal questions that the best mesothelioma lawyers in Louisiana can quickly answer. Those questions largely revolve around finding out who the responsible parties are who might owe compensation to the claimant and ultimately what financial award could be paid in mesothelioma cases.  The following asbestos case out of Jefferson Parish Louisiana provides some insight into the what a mesothelioma claimant and his family might receive if the case goes to trial.

 Recent High-Value Verdicts: Union Carbide and Beyond

The landscape of Louisiana asbestos litigation has shifted dramatically in recent years, with juries consistently awarding higher damages as the long-term impact on families becomes clearer. A landmark example is the $10.3 million verdict in the Stauder v. Union Carbide case, where a St. Charles Parish jury held the chemical giant accountable for a worker’s mesothelioma caused by years of exposure at the Taft plant. Beyond individual trials, the Louisiana Supreme Court has established a higher baseline for these cases—often referred to as the “Pete standard” following the Pete v. Boland Marine ruling. This standard effectively set a benchmark of roughly $5 million for general damages in mesothelioma cases, signaling to insurance companies and corporate defendants that the life of a Louisiana worker cannot be undervalued.

Louisiana Mesothelioma & Asbestos Verdict Comparison (20-24)

Case / Entity	Site	Year	Verdict
Stark v. Ford	Orleans Parish	2024	~$30.0M
Stauder v. Carbide	Taft Plant	2022	$10.3M
Oddo v. Ford	Jefferson Parish	2022	$4.4M
Pete Standard	LA Supreme Court	2023	~$5.0M

(Swipe left/right to view full table on mobile)

Critical Legal Update: The Two-Year Rule

Timing is everything. For decades, Louisiana had a very strict “one-year” limit to file a lawsuit.

As of July 2024, the law has changed. Victims may have two years from the date of diagnosis (or the date of death for a wrongful death claim) to take legal action.

Even if you were previously told it was “too late” to file, this new law may have reopened the door for your family to seek justice.

Detailed Case Summary: Oddo v. Ford Motor Company

Case Reference: Oddo v. Asbestos Corp. Ltd., No. 20-CA-306 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2022)

The Background:

This landmark case involved the family of a Jefferson Parish man who was diagnosed with mesothelioma. The primary defendant was Ford Motor Company. The plaintiffs alleged that the victim was exposed to asbestos-containing brake linings and gaskets while performing maintenance on Ford vehicles over several decades.

The Legal Challenge:

Ford moved for a Motion for Summary Judgment, arguing that the plaintiff could not prove that Ford’s specific products were a “substantial factor” in causing his illness. In Louisiana, the “substantial factor” test is the gold standard for proving asbestos liability.

The Verdict:

The jury disagreed with Ford, awarding the family $4.4 million. The award was broken down as follows:

• $3 million in general damages (pain and suffering).
• $1.4 million in survival and wrongful death damages.

The Appeal:

Ford appealed to the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal, claiming the evidence was insufficient. However, the appellate court upheld the award, confirming that the testimony regarding the frequent and regular use of Ford’s asbestos-containing parts was enough to sustain the multi-million dollar verdict.

The $4.4 Million Jefferson Parish Verdict (The Oddo Case)

William Oddo jr. was a handyman of sorts for over 30 years working with automobiles ships, and appliances. He raised a family on the Westbank of Jefferson Parish and lived to be 81, until he passed away from mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos. Asbestos is a fibrous mineral which used to be common in building materials and automobile brake pads due to its properties of heat resistance. Over the course of his lifetime Mr. Oddo worked and lived with and around asbestos which is said to have given rise to his death.

On June 3, 2011, just one month before his death, Mr. Oddo filed a lawsuit against multiple defendants who allegedly contributed to his contraction of mesothelioma due to his exposure to asbestos. After his passing Mr. Oddo’s wife and two sons, hereafter referred to as the “Oddo family,” converted his case to a survival/ wrongful death action focused on two defendants from the defendant pool; Ford and Sud- Chemie Inc., formally known as and hereafter referred to as “Southern Talc.” The Otto family argued that Ford significantly contributed to Mr. Otto’s contact with asbestos by producing asbestos brake pads that Mr. Otto regularly serviced when he worked for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. Additionally, the Otto family contended that Southern Talc was also responsible for Mr. Oddo’s death due to mesothelioma because Southern Talc manufactured fill that was used for Mr. Oddo’s driveway that allegedly contained asbestos.

The Oddo family’s case proceeded to trial and at the conclusion of the trial the judge asked the jury to fill out an interrogatory that would determine a calculation of damages based on the contributory fault of Ford and Southern Talc. Contributory fault is a concept wherein the “fault” of each party is divided up so that party is only caused to pay the percentage of fault that they were liable for. The Jury found that Ford substantially contributed to Mr. Otto’s contraction of mesothelioma through exposure to asbestos but that Southern Talc had not. When the jury was asked to to assign a percentage of fault to each defendant as well as six other non-parties the jury held Ford 65% liable, Southern Talc 35% liable, and all nonparties 0% liable. The judge entered a judgment of $4.4 million against Ford and Southern Talc despite objections made by both Southern Talc and Ford that the interrogatory was inconsistent; an appeal followed to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal for the State of Louisiana with both defendants arguing that the interrogatory was inconsistent and with Ford additionally arguing that the Oddo family’s experts were unqualified.

Because the jury had filled out their interrogatory form inconsistently and the judge failed to have the jury re-do it, the Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit evaluated Southern Talc’s appeal from a de novo standard. When a trial judge makes a legal error, the appellate court should evaluate the subsequent appeal on a de novo standard. Evans v. Lungrin. A “de novo review” means that the court of appeal will review the entire record of the trial court while searching for any errors which could cause a different result. By awarding damages against Southern Talc despite the jury’s interrogatory stating that Southern Talc had not significantly contributed to Mr. Otto’s contraction of mesothelioma the appellate court concluded the trial judge made a legal error. Upon review the appellate court held that by a preponderance of the evidence Southern Talc was not a substantial cause of Mr. Oddo’s mesothelioma due to the lack of evidence that Mr. Oddo’s driveway did in fact contain asbestos.

While the appellate court determined Southern Talc’s appeal on a de novo standard the court determined that the trial judge’s legal error did not inconsistently hold Ford liable. The appellate court first examined Ford’s argument that the trial court improperly denied Ford’s motion to exclude the Plaintiff’s experts Drs. Hammar and Finkelstein based on Louisiana’s Code of Evidence requirement which requires expert testimony to be based on reliable principles and methods. LSA-C.E. Art. 702. The two doctors intended to testify that any exposure to asbestos can lead to mesothelioma. The trial court agreed with Ford that the doctors’ theory was unreliable but allowed them to change their testimony to state that non-trivial exposure to asbestos increases the likelihood to develop mesothelioma. The appellate court determined this to be an accepted statement within asbestos litigation used in many asbestos cases, including one by the Supreme Court of Louisiana. See Rando v. Anco Insulations, Inc.

Ford additionally argued the trial judge improperly dismissed their motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict concerning Ford’s liability and resulting damages. A motion for a judgement notwithstanding the verdict can be petitioned on issues of liability and/ or damages. A judge has discretion to enter a judgement contrary to a jury verdict when evidence points so overwhelmingly in favor of a party that reasonable persons could not find otherwise. Anderson v. New Orleans Public Service, Inc. The Fourth Circuit court determined that there was substantial evidence that Ford vehicles and parts significantly contributed to Mr. Oddo’s contact with asbestos from doing 5-6 brake jobs a day on ford vehicles with asbestos brake pads. The appellate court determined that the jury’s findings of liability were reasonable and therefore affirmed the judgment against Ford.

After reviewing Southern Talc and Ford’s liability the appellate court evaluated the liability of the  six non-parties. The court determined that two non-parties, Higgins and Union Carbide, were 25% and 10% liable respectively for Mr. Oddo’s contraction of mesothelioma. This finding was based off of Mr. Oddo’s employment at the Higgins shipyard which exposed him to a potent form of asbestos as well as his employment at Union Carbide where he installed asbestos containing pipe insulation. Both of Mr. Oddo’s expert witnesses testified that Mr. Oddo’s exposure to asbestos at Higgins and Union Carbide was a substantial contributing cause of mesothelioma.

After consulting all the evidence and re-evaluating liability for defendants and non- parties the appellate court vacated the judgment against Southern Talc but increased Ford’s responsibility of survival damages from a fifth to a half of the total, an increase from $460,278.62 to $1,150,696.58. However because Southern Talc’s judgment was vacated the overall award to Mr. Oddo’s family decreased from $4.4 million to $3.67 million.

This case demonstrates the complex nature of asbestos litigation in Louisiana. A substantial award was given to Oddo’s family but due to various errors made in the trial court that award was reduced somewhat. It is unfortunate that Mr. Oddo’s family was forced to deal with this litigation but thankfully they received a multimillion dollar award from the jury. Such an award is typical of the awards given for mesothelioma lawsuits in this area, thus answering the question: How much do Juries Award in Mesothelioma Lawsuits in Louisiana?

As of 2026, the average mesothelioma settlement in Louisiana typically ranges from $1 million to $1.4 million, while trial verdicts average much higher. However, the law has changed: as of July 2024, you now have two years to file a claim instead of one. Whether you were exposed at the Higgins Shipyard, a refinery in Taft, or through Ford brake pads, the value of your case depends on having a lawyer who can prove ‘substantial factor’ exposure.

Additional Sources: WILLIAM ODDO, JR. VERSUS ASBESTOS CORPORATION LTD., ET AL.

Written by Berniard Law Firm Blog 

Additional Berniard Law Firm Articles on Asbestos and Mesothelioma: Legal Remedy for People With Mesothelioma Due to Asbestos Exposure and Lessons and Warning Signs of Asbestos Exposure and Mesothelioma

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a settlement take?

While trials can take a year or more, many asbestos trusts and insurance companies begin settling claims within 90 to 180 days once evidence of exposure is verified.

Can I sue if the company is no longer in business?

Yes. Many companies like Johns-Manville or Eagle Inc. have established asbestos bankruptcy trusts. There is currently over $30 billion available in these trusts to compensate victims, even if the company is gone.

What if I was exposed through a family member’s clothes?

This is called “Take-Home Exposure.” Louisiana courts frequently award significant damages to spouses or children who developed mesothelioma after washing the asbestos-laden work clothes of a loved one.

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