Thomas was raised in rural Mississippi and as a teenager accepted a challenging position as a “roughneck” working on the oil drilling rigs. Because of limited ability to read and write, occupational opportunities were limited for Thomas and he accepted the physical rigors and highly dangerous environment typical to work in the oilfield. Though he worked daily in perilous working conditions, it was not the machinery or hydraulic pumping that ultimately caused Thomas irreparable harm.

As a “roughneck,” Thomas was responsible for various hard labor duties to insure that more experienced oilfield workers could perform their operations successfully. One of the most important components of an effective drilling team involves the mixing of drilling mud. Thomas’ responsibilities as a “roughneck” included pouring 50-pound bags of additives into the drilling mud. Thirty years later, Thomas found out that the additive he was pouring was asbestos.

Asbestos was used in drilling mud from the mid 1960s until the late 1980s. The asbestos additive was manufactured and distributed by Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. and Union Carbide Corp. Despite their knowledge of the dangers of asbestos, both companies continued to market and distribute the dangerous material without providing adequate warning labels on the product. Had the warning labels been adequate, then Thomas and others would have had the opportunity to protect themselves from the dangerous asbestos dust. Instead, Thomas and other laborers inhaled asbestos dust with no adequate warning to the dangers of the material. Now Thomas, at only 48 years of age, requires an oxygen mask for 18 to 24 hours per day or he will be unable to breath due to his asbestosis.

The 1972 Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations state that a warning label must be of sufficient size and contrast. The defendants argued that their warning labels met these standards. However, their warning label was only the size of a cell phone on one side if the 50 pound bags. Furthermore, their warning label was not bold enough to draw attention. Had they used stronger, contrasting colors such as yellow or red, and made their warning label an adequate size relative to the 50 pound bags, then Thomas might have noticed the warning label.

Perhaps the strongest witness in the trial was Thomas’ friend and co-worker. Thomas’ friend also worked as a “roughneck” and testified of this own lung cancer. He handled the same asbestos product as Thomas.

The rural Mississippi jury awarded Thomas $11 million for future medical expenses, $11 million for pain and suffering, and $300 million in punitive damages to be split evenly between Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. and Union Carbide Corp. The state of Mississippi has a cap on punitive damages at $20 million for companies with a net worth over $1 billion.