Posted: July 14, 2014

A service station owner will be allowed to press his case for punitive damages against the Ford Motor Co. for exposing him to brake-lining asbestos, under a ruling by the Supreme Court of California. A jury had already awarded Patrick Scott $1.5 million in compensatory damages and legal costs against Ford in November 2012 and Scott also settled claims against other automakers. But his case hit a series of legal roadblocks when he sought punitive damages against Ford. Now he will be able to seek those additional damages. Scott stopped working in 2011 after he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an incurable form of lung cancer caused by asbestos. According to news reports of the case, Ford mentioned asbestos in a 1975 publication but did not put warnings on brake cartons until at least 1980 – nine years after the federal government began regulating asbestos exposure in the workplace. Learn more about mesothelioma lawsuits