Contra Costa Jury Awards $21.4 Million in Benzene Deaths of Two Brothers Against Chevron

Gary and Randy Eaves worked as spray booth operators at a tire manufacturing plant in Arkansas. Their job required them to apply a benzene-based solvent directly onto tires, day after day, without respirators, without protective clothing, and with no instruction on how to handle the chemical safely. No ventilation protocols were in place. The plant had been owned by Unocal for decades before Chevron acquired Unocal in 2005.

Gary Eaves was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and died in 2015 at age 61. His brother Randy developed leukemia and died in 2018, also at 61. Both cancers are linked to benzene exposure. Their families sued Chevron in Contra Costa County, where Chevron is headquartered, arguing the company was liable for the safety failures at a facility it had inherited through the Unocal purchase.

Mary Alexander was part of the trial team representing both families. The case took four weeks to try. Alexander's team presented evidence that workers at the plant were never given proper protective equipment and were never warned about the risks of handling benzene without safeguards. The jury heard that none of the spray booth operators routinely wore respirators or protective gear during the years Gary and Randy Eaves worked at the facility.

On March 29, 2019, after three days of deliberation, the jury found Chevron liable and returned a combined verdict of $21.4 million for both families. Chevron said it did not believe Unocal had any role in the brothers' injuries and that it was evaluating the jury's decision. No reduction on appeal was reported in contemporaneous coverage.

The trial lasted four weeks. The jury deliberated three days. Gary Eaves died four years before the verdict; Randy Eaves died less than a year before the jury heard the case.