Popcorn worker awarded $20 million in lung lawsuit

JOPLIN, Mo. -- A factory worker who claimed his lungs were ruined as a result of mixing flavoring oils used in microwave popcorn was awarded $20 million by a jury Monday.

Eric Peoples was the first of 30 former workers at the Gilster-Mary Lee Corp. plant in Jasper to have his suit heard against the two makers of the butter flavoring. Following a morning of closing arguments, the jury deliberated for a little more than three hours before returning the verdict.

People cried and hugged his wife, Cassandra, as the jury ruled against International Flavors and Fragrances Inc. and its subsidiary Bush Boake Allen Inc., the flavoring manufacturers. They were ordered to pay $18 million to Eric Peoples and $2 million to his wife for compensatory personal injury damages. An earlier ruling by the judge prevented Peoples from seeking punitive damages.

"We're relieved that it's over and our lives can get back to as normal as they can be," said Eric Peoples, who added that no amount of money will be able to make up for the time he expects to lose with his family. Peoples' attorney argued the 32-year-old Carthage man is likely to live for only another 20 years and then only after undergoing a double-lung transplant.

The attorneys for the manufacturers left the courthouse without speaking to reporters.

The outcome of the case was considered important because the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health also has linked exposure to vapors from butter flavoring to lung disease in popcorn factory workers in Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska.

Peoples' attorney, Ken McClain, said the jury's verdict -- which he said was the largest in Jasper County history, an assertion confirmed by court officials -- sets a precedent. His next case in the county is set for trial on April 20. He also has cases pending in Illinois and Iowa.

"I want to keep the pressure up and get these cases done as soon as we can," McClain said.

Peoples' suit charged that International Flavors and Fragrances and Bush Boake Allen knew their butter flavoring was hazardous but they failed to warn the southwest Missouri plant and its workers of the dangers or provide adequate safety instructions.

During their closing, attorneys for the two corporations told jurors their product is safe when handled properly. Information sent to popcorn plant officials warned that the flavoring should be mixed in a well-ventilated area and a respirator should be worn when heating it.

"We know beyond a shadow of doubt that if you use basic hygiene practices, you don't have a problem in this plant," said attorney Mike Patton, who represents New York-based International Flavors and Fragrances.

Gilster-Mary Lee, which was not named in the suit, remodeled the plant after government investigators in 2001 linked a chemical in the butter flavoring, diacetyl, to the workers' illnesses. There have been no reports of illness since the ventilation was improved and workers began wearing respirators, Patton said.

Attorney Frank Woodside, who represents Bush Boake Allen, stressed that its butter flavoring is still used at the Jasper plant.

"They buy it, and they use it because they know it can be used safely," he said.

Woodside told jurors there have been no studies to definitively prove the butter flavoring is to blame for Peoples' illness.

"The science continues to evolve," he said. "It has never been determined conclusively that diacetyl is the agent to blame. More studies are needed."

McClain said Peoples suffers the fear each night that he will not wake up and is angry because he cannot do things such as play with his children, fish or hunt, that other men his age enjoy. He also must deal with the embarrassment of not being able to have a fulfilling intimate relationship with his wife.

Worst of all, McClain told jurors, is that Peoples must live with the knowledge that even if he has a double-lung transplant, he likely will not live beyond the age of 52. Testimony showed that if his health remains stable, he could wait at least 10 years for a transplant. Life expectancy of a lung transplant patient is only about 10 years.

"Eric feels like he's in prison," McClain told jurors. "He's going to eventually go through the physical pain of a lung transplant, knowing that he's going back to prison again because he'll eventually get lung disease again."