Chicago Jury Awards $30.4 Million to Diacetyl-Exposed Factory Worker

According to a news source, a man who worked in a Chicago-area plant for eight years and was diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans has been awarded $30.4 million on claims that workplace exposure to the butter-flavoring chemical diacetyl left him with 25 percent of normal lung capacity that will require a lung transplant within the next 10 years. Solis v. BASF Corp., No. ___ (Ill. Cir. Ct., Cook Cty.) The largest verdict previously awarded in a similar case was $20 million to a former popcorn plant worker in Missouri. Plaintiff Gerardo Solis, 45, was represented by Independence, Missouri, attorney Ken McClain. See The Joplin Globe, August 16, 2010.