The verdicts against two Ohio companies (Lincoln Electric Company and Hobart Brothers Company) are the first ever jury verdicts against manufacturers of welding rods for injuries relating to asbestos. Lincoln and Hobart made welding rods that contained asbestos in the outer-coating from the 1930s until approximately 1981. Lincoln is a publicly traded company (NASDAQ; LECO), and Hobart is a subsidiary of a publicly traded company, Illinois Tool Works (NYSE; ITW).

The jury found that the asbestos-containing welding rods manufactured by Lincoln and Hobart were defective, and that both companies were negligent in selling their product without any warning about the hazards of asbestos. The jury also found that Lincoln acted with reckless disregard for the safety of others.

Angel Gomez was born in Cuba and came to the United States in 1962. He resides in Bronx, NY and has three children and one grandchild. Mr. Gomez was exposed to asbestos from the welding rods while working as a welder at a metal shop in Newark, NJ from 1965 to 1967. The jury awarded Mr. Gomez $2,000,000 for past pain and suffering, $1,000,000 for future pain and suffering, and lost wages in the amount of $192,485.20. The jury apportioned 75% of the fault to Lincoln and 25 % to Mr. Gomez who the jury found was negligent in smoking cigarettes for approximately 15 years before quitting in approximately 1980.

Daniel Tucker, who resided in Wappinger Falls, NY before his death in September of 2002, is survived by seven children and four grandchildren. Mr. Tucker was exposed to asbestos from welding rods while working at Con Edison as a welder and assistant to welders from 1969 up until 1981. The jury awarded Mr. Tucker's estate $3,000,000 for past pain and suffering, and lost wages in the amount of $453,358.62. The jury apportioned 50% of the fault to Lincoln and 50% to Hobart.

Jerome Block from the law firm of Levy Phillips & Konigsberg, counsel for Mr. Gomez and the Tucker family, commenting on the jury's recklessness finding, noted that, "The juries finding that Lincoln Electric acted with reckless disregard for the safety of workers like Mr. Gomez and Mr. Tucker confirms the strength of the evidence in these cases, and confirms the need to have asbestos cases considered by juries. The proposed federal legislation that would force all asbestos claims into a federal fund would under-compensate asbestos victims while providing a windfall to companies like Lincoln Electric that failed in their most basic corporate responsibility protecting human life."