Brayton Purcell LLP announces $33 Million Verdict in the Sixth Artificial Stone Countertop Fabrication Silicosis Trial

NOVATO, Calif., Oct. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Brayton Purcell LLP is pleased to report that, on October 21, 2026, in the case of Jose Luis Martir Navarro and Silvia Rebeca Gudiel Garcia, Plaintiffs, v. Caesarstone Ltd and Caesarstone USA. Inc, et al., Case No. 30-2023-01370092-CU-TT-CXC5, a jury assessed a $33,000,000 verdict on behalf of the family of Plaintiffs Jose Luis Martir Navarro and Silvia Rebeca Gudiel Garcia against Caesarstone Ltd. and Caesarstone USA, Inc. This was the sixth artificial stone silicosis trial in the U.S., and the fifth verdict in favor of plaintiffs. Jose Luis Martir Navaro developed artificial stone silicosis after 13 years working in the trade, at age 63 after working as an artificial stone countertop fabrication worker.

In reaching its verdict, the jury determined that both Caesarstone entities were liable for product-liability design defect under the risk-benefit test. It declined to accept the companies' asserted affirmative defenses, including theories involving employer responsibility, negligent third-party conduct, superseding intentional or criminal acts, and misuse or modification of the product.

The jury's damages findings were $25,000,000 of noneconomic damages for Jose Luis Martir Navarro and $8,000,000 in noneconomic damages for Silvia Rebeca Gudiel Garcia's loss of consortium, for a total verdict of $33,000,000.

Caesarstone Ltd. was found to be 11% at fault, and Caesarstone USA, Inc. was found to be 11% at fault.

The plaintiffs were represented at trial by attorney Liliana Carbone, of Brayton Purcell LLP, and Ms. Carbone was supported by Julio Trujillo of Trujillo Law, LLC. The motion work and briefs were done along with the hard work from Grecia Perez, and the team of paralegals and trial assistants at Brayton Purcell LLP, including Lindsay Sayers and Silvia Guerrero.

The Caesarstone entities were represented by Peter Strotz and Bryan King of King & Spalding.

Plaintiffs' experts were Mr. Aki Vourakis (fabrication specialist), Dr. Michael Ellenbecker, CIH (certified industrial hygienist), Dr. David Ross, M.D. (lung transplants), Dr. Andrew McClintock Greenberg, M.D. (pulmonologist), and Dr. Richard Cohen (occupational medicine and epidemiology).

Defendants' experts were Haifa Hughes, CIH (certified industrial hygienist) and Dr. Dennis Paustenbach, Ph.D. (toxicologist).

Jurors determined that the hazards are inherent in the artificial stone itself, finding the high-silica slabs defective and unsafe to fabricate under real-world conditions. At least 90% of the material is respirable crystalline silica; the remaining approximately 10% includes highly toxic dyes, resins, glues, and heavy metals that release VOCs during fabrication. Cutting, grinding, and polishing the slabs creates nano-sized, high-surface-area respirable crystalline silica dust. The finding arrives amid mounting scientific evidence about artificial stone's unique toxicity and California's ongoing response to the artificial stone silicosis epidemic. On May 21, 2026, state regulators voted to initiate emergency rulemaking concerning artificial stone products containing more than 1% crystalline silica.

The evidence presented at trial addressed the responsibility of numerous parties involved in Mr. Martir Navarro's exposure to artificial stone products. Plaintiffs did not contend that Caesarstone was solely responsible; instead, they argued that responsibility attributable to others did not excuse Caesarstone from liability for its own contribution to his end-stage, fatal artificial stone silicosis. The jury apportioned fault among multiple parties, assigning 70% to the employer and a combined 8% to other stone manufacturers and distributors. Significantly, the jury attributed no fault to Mr. Martir Navarro and found the Caesarstone entities liable for their portion of the responsibility.

Caesarstone Ltd. began manufacturing its high-silica, ultra-processed artificial stone in 1987, and Caesarstone USA, Inc. began distributing Caesarstone products in California in 1998. In 2012, the peer-reviewed medical journal CHEST, published by the American College of Chest Physicians, reported an outbreak of artificial stone silicosis among fabricators in Israel, where more than 90% of the artificial stone they fabricated was Caesarstone. The article was originally titled, "Caesarstone Silicosis: Disease Resurgence Among Artificial Stone Workers."

After that publication, Caesarstone Ltd. continued manufacturing its high-silica artificial stone, and Caesarstone USA continued distributing those products in the United States. In 2023, Caesarstone introduced Caesarstone Mineral, a lower-silica line containing between 11% and 40% crystalline silica. In 2025, it introduced another line of artificial stone containing less than 1% crystalline silica.

Despite the availability of these lower-silica products, the companies continue to manufacture and distribute high-crystalline-silica products. They have not provided marketing or guidance directing their sales representatives to promote the lower-silica products as safer alternatives.

The significance of the Martir Navarro trial extends beyond a single worker. Hundreds of young artificial stone fabrication workers have developed serious diseases following just a few years of exposure to uniquely toxic artificial stone, including artificial stone silicosis, rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases, chronic kidney disease, and lung cancer. Artificial stone silicosis itself is preventable, progressive, incurable, and fatal, with no known cure.

"The evidence showed that Caesarstone knew for years that its high-crystalline-silica artificial stone was associated with a uniquely aggressive and deadly disease in the workers who fabricated it," said Liliana Carbone, attorney at Brayton Purcell LLP. "Jose Luis Martir Navarro's story is painfully ordinary among the workers suffering from artificial stone silicosis. After only thirteen years fabricating this uniquely toxic product, he went from a strong, hardworking husband, father, and grandfather to a man who is suffocating to death in front of his family who depends on his family to get through each day. We are proud to have fought for him and his family and grateful that the jury gave them some measure of justice."

"Caesarstone came into this trial refusing to accept any responsibility for the devastating harm caused to Jose Luis Martir Navarro," said Julio Trujillo, of Trujillo Law. "Instead, they blamed his employers, other manufacturers, and everyone but themselves. The jury rejected that argument and held Caesarstone accountable for its share of the harm."

"The evidence in this case showed that artificial stone silicosis is a preventable disease," said Liliana Carbone. "There are products that can be used for the exact same purpose without exposing workers to the same danger. When safer alternatives exist, there is no reason to keep needlessly endangering the workers who have to cut and fabricate these slabs."

Brayton Purcell LLP partner, James Nevin said, "This verdict shows that, yet again, juries come to the same conclusion as Cal OSHA; that artificial stone is uniquely toxic and must be banned so that the market will switch to non-silica products and workers do not continue to develop debilitating and fatal artificial stone silicosis"

For additional information regarding this verdict, contact:

James P. Nevin, Esq.
Brayton Purcell LLP
(415) 493-3531
[email protected]

For media inquiries, contact:

Nolan Lowry
Chief Marketing Officer
Brayton Purcell LLP
(415) 399-3701
[email protected]

SOURCE Brayton Purcell LLP