Ford Asbestos Lawsuit Verdict Upheld By NY Appeals Court

Ford has faced its fair share of legal woes over the years, including some pertaining to the material known as asbestos, which was once commonly used in building materials and other products due to its durability and heat-resistant properties. Trouble is, we later discovered that asbestos is toxic and carcinogenic, and can cause serious problems like mesothelioma and lung cancer. As one might imagine, some former Ford facilities and components contained asbestos, and the automaker’s legal battles over resulting health problems continue to this day.

The latest development comes to us from the state of New York, where an appeals court upheld a jury verdict in favor of a former parts department employee at a Lincoln-Ford-Mercury dealership in Orchard Park, according to Automotive News. That man – Joseph Skrzynski – worked at the dealer between 1975-1980, and was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2021. The resulting lawsuit claims that Skrzynski’s disease stemmed from his handling of brake components from Ford over the course of that time period.

“During this five-year period, Skrzynski was exposed to asbestos on a daily basis,” according to his legal brief, “when he opened and handled boxes of Ford brakes and clutches; wiped dust off of the parts counter that accumulated from the manipulation of these boxes and from the brake work being performed in the adjacent garage; stood in close proximity to mechanics on over 1,000 occasions as they performed brake repair and replacement, including blowouts and sanding; and when the garage and equipment were swept, cleaned, and maintained at the end of the day.”

Ford has argued that Skrzynski didn’t perform mechanical work at the dealer and wasn’t a tech, and added that it believed there wasn’t enough evidence to declare his condition the result of exposure on the job. Regardless, both courts disagreed. It’s just one of a few lawsuits Ford has faced over asbestos exposure, as it was among a few companies ordered to pay millions in a similar legal battle back in 2022, and in August 2024, Ford’s UK-based Parts Distribution Center was shut down after asbestos was found in that facility, too.