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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (CN) – The family of a longtime Jackson County Courthouse employee will receive a state-record $10 million to settle claims of improper handling of asbestos at the courthouse. Nancy Lopez filed the lawsuit before dying in October 2010 of mesothelioma, a cancer caused by asbestos exposure, according to the St. Joseph News-Press. Lopez claimed Kansas City-based U.S. Engineering Co. did not follow proper procedures while working with asbestos at the courthouse, where she worked for 27 years. Lopez’s attorney, Lou Accurso, told The Associated Press it is the largest asbestos settlement in Missouri history. The settlement does not apply to a pending class action filed on behalf of other courthouses employees, the AP reported. Jackson County, in whose court Lopez filed her lawsuit, must pay her family $400,000.
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