Jurors rule in favor of IBM in cancer lawsuit brought by ex-employees

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/02/26/national1818EST0811.DTL

In a major victory for the electronics industry, a jury decided Thursday that IBM Corp. was not responsible for the cancers that developed in two former employees at a disk drive plant.

The jury deliberated for less than two days before clearing the computer giant of claims that the harsh chemicals used in its factory caused the retirees' illnesses. The former workers, who were diagnosed with cancer in the 1990s, were seeking damages that could have totaled millions of dollars.

The trial was the first of more than 200 similar lawsuits against IBM, and riveted the industry, which bills itself as clean and progressive. Some observers had said a jury verdict against IBM could have triggered more lawsuits against semiconductor companies and other high-tech businesses.

The two retirees who brought the California case claimed IBM hid the dangers of their job at the plant in San Jose. IBM said the unanimous jury decision vindicated Big Blue from the charges of "fraudulent concealment."

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Plaintiffs' attorney Richard Alexander said it was too early to decide whether he would seek to appeal the case.

He said he was disappointed with the judge's refusal to let him present some evidence, including a "corporate mortality file" that IBM maintained on its workers and a study showing that IBM workers had higher rates of cancer than the population at large.