If your law firm is taking up engineered stone silicosis cases, Atraxia Media can efficiently help you find the most suitable clients.
Workers injured by silica dust exposure from quartz countertops are seeking quality legal assistance. Our expert team has the necessary marketing experience to successfully match these cases with your personal injury law firm. Atraxia Media can help you develop your case inventory. We can assist you with onboarding, intake review, client communication, and marketing strategies. Ultimately, you will receive engineered stone silicosis cases meeting your eligibility requirements, and your law firm will benefit from significantly more visibility.
Current signed contract costs: ***subject to change
The reliable and experienced team of marketing professionals at Atraxia Media use the most effective approach to find and onboard clients who are a good fit for your law firm based on your criteria. The marketing strategy that helps us find clients injured by engineered stone exposure can be divided into the following stages:
Workers may be eligible to file a claim for engineered stone silicosis if they:
From our first interaction with a potential client until the moment they sign the engagement letter, we handle everything, including ad development, social media buying, and screening. We only need to know the number of engineered stone silicosis cases your law firm would like to receive. Atraxia Media's marketing process is more than just securing potential clients - it is a whole process of attracting and signing new clients as per your needs.
Engineered stone, commonly sold as quartz countertops, contains between 90% and 95% crystalline silica, far exceeding the silica content found in natural materials like granite or marble. When workers cut, grind, or polish these slabs, they release extremely fine respirable silica dust particles that penetrate deep into lung tissue. This exposure has created an occupational disease crisis among countertop fabricators, installers, and polishers across the United States.
The injuries from engineered stone silicosis are both severe and rapid. Unlike traditional occupational silicosis, which typically develops after decades of exposure, workers exposed to high concentrations of silica dust from engineered stone can develop accelerated silicosis within just a few years. Many affected workers are men in their 20s through 40s who entered the countertop fabrication industry and quickly declined after only a short period of shop exposure. The disease progression can be devastating, leading to progressive massive fibrosis, respiratory failure, and the need for double-lung transplants.
California has documented this epidemic most extensively, with the state's Department of Public Health confirming 172 cases of silicosis among countertop workers as of recent reports. Many of these cases were identified at advanced stages of disease. Nearly all affected workers are Latino immigrant men, with a median age of 45 at diagnosis. Fatality rates among studied clusters reach 19%, and dozens of workers have undergone lung transplant evaluations or received transplants.
The issue comes down to insufficient workplace safety measures in many fabrication shops. Employees routinely performed dry cutting, grinding, and polishing work without proper air circulation systems or respiratory gear. Facilities that claimed to follow wet cutting procedures often failed to implement those controls the right way, allowing dangerous silica dust levels to gather in work zones. The fine dust particles remain airborne and settle onto surfaces, posing ongoing exposure risks even when cutting operations have stopped.
Regulatory agencies have started paying attention to this workplace health crisis. California made silicosis something that must be reported, and Cal/OSHA has ramped up enforcement against fabrication shops that don't have proper dust controls. Australia went the furthest by completely banning engineered stone products in 2024, saying the health risks couldn't be eliminated even with better workplace safety measures. California has put new dust control requirements in place for shops handling engineered stone, though not all businesses in the industry are following them consistently.
The epidemiological evidence linking engineered stone exposure to silicosis is now well established. Multiple peer-reviewed studies have documented the rapid onset of disease among fabrication workers, with some developing acute silicosis after exposures as brief as a few months. The exceptionally high silica levels in engineered stone products, paired with modern cutting techniques that produce huge amounts of fine dust, create exposure situations that are far more dangerous than those in traditional stonework.
Plaintiffs: Workers who fabricated, cut, polished, or installed engineered stone countertops and developed silicosis, progressive massive fibrosis, severe restrictive lung disease, or required lung transplant evaluation or transplant.
Defendants: Engineered stone manufacturers, distributors, and suppliers, including:
Products: Engineered stone slabs marketed as quartz countertops containing 90% to 95% crystalline silica.
Plaintiff Allegations: Plaintiffs argue that manufacturers of engineered stone knew or should have known about the severe health risks from products with such incredibly high crystalline silica concentrations. Even so, manufacturers didn't provide proper warnings to workers and the companies employing them about silica dust dangers during cutting, grinding, and polishing operations. The lawsuits allege the products have defective designs because of their extremely hazardous silica content and that manufacturers offered inadequate safety guidance. The companies allegedly covered up how serious the silica hazards were, despite scientific research available that showed the rapid development of silicosis among workers handling engineered stone.
History:
2025:
January: A 51-year-old countertop fabricator who was oxygen-dependent and diagnosed with complex silicosis and progressive massive fibrosis secured a settlement exceeding $26 million during jury selection in a California case. The settlement involved multiple engineered stone manufacturers and suppliers. The fabricator had worked in the industry for years and developed severe lung damage requiring constant oxygen support and consideration for a lung transplant.
2024:
August: A jury in Los Angeles County handed down a $52.4 million verdict in favor of Gustavo Reyes Gonzalez, a 34-year-old former countertop fabricator whose silicosis got so bad he needed a double-lung transplant. Three manufacturers were found liable for selling dangerous products without adequate warnings. Those companies were Caesarstone USA, Cambria, and Color Marble. The damages covered everything from his lost income and medical bills to the toll the illness has taken on his life. Legal experts see this as a major signal for the wave of similar cases expected to follow. His legal team at Brayton Purcell says the firm has now won over $78 million total for engineered stone silicosis victims.
July: California health authorities reported that silicosis cases among countertop workers continued to rise, with many workers presenting at advanced disease stages requiring immediate medical intervention. Public health officials noted that the majority of affected workers were young Latino men who had worked in small fabrication shops with minimal safety equipment.
2023:
December: California courts started seeing a flood of lawsuits from engineered stone workers who were only just now realizing that the dust from cutting quartz countertops had been damaging their lungs. Many of the people filing said they were never told about the risks, and almost never received any real respiratory protection on the job.
September: Cal/OSHA announced increased enforcement efforts targeting countertop fabrication shops, citing numerous violations of permissible exposure limits for crystalline silica. Inspections revealed that many shops lacked basic dust control measures such as water suppression systems, local exhaust ventilation, or respiratory protection programs.
June: California's Department of Public Health released updated data showing 172 confirmed silicosis cases among countertop workers, representing a sharp increase from previous years. The report highlighted that nearly all cases involved exposure to engineered stone products rather than natural stone materials.
2022:
November: Occupational health researchers began taking a closer look when case reports started coming in about young countertop fabricators developing silicosis way faster than anyone expected. A few of them needed to be evaluated for lung transplants after working with engineered stone for under five years. Doctors were stunned because the damage they were seeing was worse than what they typically observed in miners with much longer careers.
August: The push for stricter rules around engineered stone fabrication started picking up steam, driven by worker advocacy groups and health specialists who were tired of watching people get sick. Australia was already ahead of the curve on this one, with officials there seriously considering a full ban after concluding that controlling the exposure risk just wasn't realistic.
2021:
October: California took a step forward by making silicosis a reportable disease, which meant that doctors and hospitals were now required to flag diagnosed cases to public health officials. This change allowed for better tracking of the engineered stone silicosis epidemic and identification of high-risk workplaces.
May: Early legal actions against engineered stone manufacturers started showing up in California courts as workers with serious lung injuries sought compensation to cover medical treatment, lost wages, and suffering. The initial complaints claimed that manufacturers knew about the dangers of silica but failed to provide proper warnings or redesign their products to reduce silica content.
2020:
March: California occupational medicine specialists released cluster analysis publications revealing surprisingly high rates of rapidly developing silicosis among countertop fabrication employees, particularly workers cutting engineered stone instead of natural granite or marble. These publications highlighted an emerging workplace health crisis.
2019:
September: Australia was one of the first countries to really feel the full weight of the engineered stone silicosis crisis. Reports started coming out about young workers developing severe lung disease after surprisingly short periods of exposure, and it didn't take long for the rest of the world to take notice. The patterns being documented there looked eerily similar to what was starting to show up elsewhere.
With many years of experience in mass tort marketing, Atraxia Media can help your law firm with everything, from advertising to screening and qualifying potential clients. Furthermore, we use our experience to integrate all these tools into your law firm's strategy to make sure you get value from every single dollar invested in marketing. Our expert team follows your law firm's criteria and backs it up with a practical, effective marketing strategy.