He wore toxins home; she did the laundry. Why a Utahn’s lawsuit over his wife’s death is going back to trial

WEST VALLEY CITY – An electrician says the asbestos he tracked home from work decades ago robbed him of his life partner. Now he’s getting a new shot at holding a Utah company accountable for her death.

A judge has awarded Larry Boynton a new trial against Kennecott Utah Copper in a lawsuit that has dragged on for nearly a decade and helped define businesses’ obligations not just to workers but their family members, too.

“It isn’t money,” Boynton said Wednesday about why he sued after his wife died of cancer in 2016. “I’d much rather have her kissing me goodbye, going to work.”

Early in their marriage of 54 years, he worked as a laborer at job sites around Utah and came home with asbestos on his clothes. Barbara Boynton shook them out, he said, breathing in tiny bits of asbestos when she did laundry.

After her death, Larry Boynton sued two dozen companies. At issue: How much they knew or should have known about the hazards of asbestos. Some businesses paid to settle the case, while others were dismissed.

Last year, a jury found the company wasn’t negligent. Boynton’s attorneys then asked for a new trial, arguing the company failed to turn over certain documents before last year’s trial that would’ve helped his case. Kennecott disputes they would have made a difference.

At a hearing on Dec. 23, a judge granted Larry Boynton’s request. A new trial date hasn’t been set.

Kennecott’s owner, Rio Tinto, said in a statement to KSL that it’s confident the jury reached the correct decision last year. The statement continues: “We acknowledge that the Court recently granted the plaintiff’s motion for reconsideration from the bench, which we disagree with and are evaluating our options for next steps.”

The company also said nothing’s more important than the safety of its employees, contractors and communities.

“At Rio Tinto, we aim to comply with all regulations and implement even stricter standards to ensure we maintain the highest levels of health and safety,” the statement reads.

Now 83, Boynton said he’s focused less on the lawsuit and more on memories from a long love story cut short.

He added: “She was my support system.”

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