Grahn v. Tosco Corp.

Opinion

RUVOLO, J.

I

Introduction

This is an appeal from a jury award of $1,074,420 in favor of respondents Gerald Grahn and his wife, Bonnie Grahn, for personal injury and loss of consortium resulting from his occupational exposure to asbestos. Grahn was the employee of an independent contractor, J. L. Thorpe & Sons (Thorpe), which performed insulation work at various locations throughout the Bay Area, including appellant Tosco Corporation’s oil refinery (Tosco). The jury found Grahn’s injuries partially resulted from Tosco’s negligence and allocated 3 percent fault to Tosco, 60 percent fault to…