Jury Awards $33 Million in Artificial Stone Silicosis Case

NOVATO, Calif., Oct. 23, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- On October 21, 2026, a jury 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, 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.

Martir Navarro, a 63-year-old artificial stone countertop fabrication worker, developed artificial stone silicosis after 13 years of working in the trade. The jury determined that both Caesarstone entities were liable for a product-liability design defect under the risk-benefit test. They 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.

The evidence presented at trial addressed the responsibility of numerous parties involved in 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 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.

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.

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