Jury Awards $20 Million to California Couple in Asbestos Case

A San Francisco jury awarded $20 million to a couple who was alledgedly exposed to asbestos by construction materials sold by Atlanta-based Georgia Pacific Corp.

Joan and Daniel Mahoney filed the suit in 2006, after 69-year-old Joan developed a form of lung cancer, mesothelioma, commonly associated with asbestos exposure.

Georgia Pacific is responsible for paying 30 percent of the verdict, more than any other defendant, because the jury found that a joint compound sold by the company contained the harmful asbestos dust.

Also included in the suit were Bondex Inc., CertainTeed Corp., Durabond Products Ltd. and Kaiser Gypsum.

A spokesman for Georgia Pacific says the company is planning to appeal.