Philadelphia Court Orders ExxonMobil to Pay $816 Million to Mechanic Over Benzene Exposure

A court in Philadelphia has upheld a $725 million jury verdict against ExxonMobil while ordering the oil giant to pay an additional $90-plus million in delay damages in a case involving a former mechanic’s cancer diagnosis linked to benzene exposure. Judge Carmella G. Jacquinto of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas ruled on Sept. 12 to deny ExxonMobil’s post-trial motions and grant a motion for delay damages by the plaintiff, Paul Gill, ordering the company to pay him and his wife a total of nearly $816 million. The case centered around Gill, a former mechanic at a Mobil service station, who worked there in the 1970s. Gill, now 67, developed both acute myeloid leukemia and colon cancer, which he attributed to prolonged exposure to benzene, a known carcinogen and a key ingredient in gasoline. His attorneys argued that ExxonMobil had been aware of benzene’s cancer risks for decades but failed to warn its workers, prioritizing profits over safety....