Federal Jury In Cleveland Finds Welding Rod Manufacturers Guilty And Awards Plaintiff Millions

On Wednesday, December 5, 2007 the nine-person jury in U.S. District Court in Cleveland found that five companies showed negligence by not warning our client Jeff Tamraz of the toxicity of manganese in their products. Tamraz, 51, worked as a welder and iron worker in San Francisco for 27 years. In addition to the $17.5 million award to Tamraz in compensatory damages, the jury awarded his wife Terry $3 million in her loss of consortium claim. "We believe this is a turning point," said John Climaco. "We would hope the manufacturers would take the necessary steps in the future to properly warn welders and take the necessary steps to protect them from the manganese hazards in welding fumes." Defendants were Cleveland-based Lincoln Electric; Troy-based Hobart Bros. Co.; TDY Industries Inc., part of Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Technologies Inc.; ESAB Group Inc., a Florence, S.C.-based subsidiary of London's Charter PLC.; and BOC Group PLC, which was acquired last year by Linde AG of Germany.