On 26th October, the Los Angeles County jury returned a $67.7 million verdict in favour of a countertop fabricator – Dennys Rene Rivas Williams – who developed silicosis and underwent a double-lung transplant, assigning 69.1% of the responsibility to Caesarstone Ltd. and Caesarstone USA. The jury apportioned 30% of the responsibility to Primus Marble, the Los Angeles fabrication shop where Rivas Williams worked, and a combined 0.9% to other stone slab manufacturers and suppliers. The trial was held before Judge Michele Flurer in Long Beach. The case is part of a co-ordinated proceeding of silicosis lawsuits in California state court, according to a Caesarstone filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Rivas Williams worked as a fabricator at Primus Marble from 2015 to 2022. He was diagnosed with silicosis in 2022 at age 35 and received a double-lung transplant in 2024 at age 37. According to Brayton Purcell, medical evidence indicates he is expected to need a second double-lung transplant in 2027.

The Rivas Williams verdict came five days after an Orange County jury returned a $33 million verdict on 21st October in another silicosis case brought by Brayton Purcell against Caesarstone Ltd. and Caesarstone USA. In that case, which involved an unnamed fabricator who had worked 13 years in the trade, the jury found the Caesarstone entities 22% responsible and the fabrication shop, Lucky Stone, 70% responsible, according to Business Insurance.

Brayton Purcell said the Rivas Williams case was the seventh U.S. artificial stone silicosis trial it has handled involving a countertop fabrication worker and that six have resulted in verdicts for the plaintiffs.

Caesarstone has prevailed in other trials. In May 2025, a Los Angeles County jury in Torrance found that Caesarstone was not negligent and that its slabs did not contain a design defect. Earlier this year, a Colorado jury found Caesarstone not liable in a case in which it assigned partial fault to Cambria. Caesarstone and Cambria are appealing a $52.4 million verdict returned by a Los Angeles County jury in August 2024, according to Bloomberg Law.

Source: https://www.stoneworld.com/