Missouri Woman Awarded $20.6M in Chemical Case

A southwest Missouri woman was awarded $20.6 million in damages after federal jurors found that a company exposed her to a toxic chemical that left her with permanent disabilities.

A jury awarded Jodelle Kirk $13 million in punitive damages and $7.6 million in actual damages in a case against FAG Bearings, a subsidiary of Schaeffler Group North America. Kirk’s attorney said the company dumped trichlorethylene, also known as TCE, on its property and that the known carcinogen seeped into the ground, nearby creeks and private wells.

The Silver Creek woman was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis in 2002 when she was 14. FAG had blamed two other companies for the contamination.