Dean Omar Branham Shirley secures largest-ever mesothelioma talc verdict

A Los Angeles County jury has returned damages totaling $966 million, including $950 million in punitive damages, to the family of Mae Moore, who died of mesothelioma in 2021 after using Johnson & Johnson’s iconic baby powder.

Lawyers for the family say this is the largest verdict ever against Johnson & Johnson in a mesothelioma case linked to talc products.

Ms. Moore, the wife of a pastor and a mother of three, regularly used Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder, which contained asbestos-contaminated talc. Mesothelioma is a terminal cancer that is only caused by exposure to asbestos. Ms. Moore was diagnosed in December of 2020 and died a year later at 88.

Listen to a recorded clip of Ms. Moore played during closing argument.

Ms. Moore’s attorneys from Dean Omar Branham Shirely presented internal company documents and expert testimony showing that Johnson & Johnson had long known that its talc products contained asbestos but continued to sell them without warning consumers and kept the product in circulation.

“Mae should not have had to suffer because of a product she trusted for use on herself and her children,” DOBS attorney Danny Kraft said. “We are thankful for the time of the jury and the court for hearing her story and providing justice.”

The jury deliberated for two days before returning the nearly $1 billion verdict, finding in its decision on punitive damages that Johnson & Johnson acted with malice or oppression by failing to protect consumers. It also awarded $16 million in actual damages to her survivors.

"Ms. Moore’s case began in 2021, but was delayed by Johnson & Johnson’s bad faith bankruptcies. While justice was slow in coming, the jury spoke and spoke loudly,” DOBS Partner Trey Branham. “We remain ever hopeful that Johnson & Johnson will finally accept responsibility for these senseless deaths."

Dean Omar Branham Shirley this year has secured multiple jury verdicts in mesothelioma talc cases, including $3 million in New Orleans, a record-setting $42.6 million in Boston, $16 million in Washington state and $34.2 million in Oregon.

The trial team also included DOBS attorneys Venus Burns and Lenny Sandoval as well as trial paralegal Ryan Travis of The Trial Group. The case is Joy Moore et al. v. Avon et al., No. CV-05513 in the Los Angeles Superior County Court.

About Dean Omar Branham Shirley

Dean Omar Branham Shirley, LLP, is a nationally recognized trial firm that handles cases across the country for individuals who have suffered catastrophic injuries or have died as a result of the irresponsible conduct of others. For more information, please visit http://www.dobslegal.com.

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“Mae should not have had to suffer because of a product she trusted for use on herself and her children,” DOBS attorney Danny Kraft said. “We are thankful for the time of the jury and the court for hearing her story and providing justice.”