H.R. 5437, a federal bill introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives in September 2025, would effectively ban silicosis lawsuits against artificial stone manufacturers and distributors. The bill would also dismiss hundreds of pending cases.
This silica dust regulation news is not welcome news for California stone countertop workers, since California is at the center of a growing silicosis epidemic linked with engineered stone countertops.
California has seen 481 confirmed cases of silicosis and 27 deaths since 2019, with nearly all victims being Latino men with a median age at death of only 49, according to the California Department of Public Health.
An early 2026 congressional hearing put H.R. 5437 in the spotlight, with industry backing it and workers’ advocates opposing it.
Call our experienced silicosis lawyers today for a FREE consultation at (800) 718-4658 or contact us if you or a loved one has been diagnosed with silicosis after suffering silica dust exposure in the workplace.
We can help you recover financial compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain, suffering, wrongful death and more, and will not charge you any fee until we win your case.
Table of Contents
- What Is H.R. 5437 and What Would It Do?
- How H.R. 5437 Would Shield Manufacturers While Workers Suffer
- What the Bill Claims
- The Reality
- What the Bill Means for Injured Workers
- Who Can File a Silicosis Lawsuit in California?
- What Compensation Is Available in a Silicosis Lawsuit?
- FAQs
- Contact Our Silicosis Attorneys Today
What Is H.R. 5437 and What Would It Do?
H.R. 5437 was introduced by Rep. Tom McClintock in September 2025.
The bill, if passed into law, would:
- Prohibit civil actions against sellers and manufacturers of stone slabs for injuries stemming from exposure to respirable crystalline silica
- Dismiss all such actions which are pending on the date the bill is enacted
The bill would effectively shut down existing silicosis lawsuits against manufacturers like Cambria, Caesarstone and Cosentino.
Hundreds of pending lawsuits filed by sick California stonecutters will be dismissed if the bill passes.
Cambria, a Minnesota-based engineered stone manufacturer, testified in support of the bill at a January 2026 House Judiciary subcommittee hearing.
How H.R. 5437 Would Shield Manufacturers While Workers Suffer
H.R. 5437 would grant blanket immunity to artificial stone manufacturers even though safer, low-silica alternatives already exist in other markets, including Australia, and U.S. manufacturers have chosen not to adopt them.
The bill would also retroactively dismiss hundreds of pending cases from workers who are already sick, denying them their day in court.
Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers has publicly opposed the bill, arguing that manufacturers who failed to warn workers and refused to adopt safer alternatives must be held accountable.
The AFL-CIO has also formally opposed the bill.
What the Bill Claims
The bill claims that:
- Stone slab products named in silicosis lawsuits aren’t inherently dangerous and don’t inherently pose a risk of human injury.
- Silicosis lawsuits seek compensation from sellers and manufacturers of products which lead to silica exposure when the products are altered by third-party fabricators which the sellers and manufacturers have no control over.
- The alteration of these products is regulated by federal and state laws and regulations, but some fabricators don’t comply with these requirements, leading to respirable crystalline silica exposure over the permissible exposure limit.
- Those lawfully manufacturing and selling stone slabs aren’t responsible for injuries caused by those altering the slabs without complying with federal and state regulations.
- Silicosis lawsuits against sellers and manufacturers are “frivolous,” impose unreasonable burdens on commerce, and may limit access to courts by straining the legal system’s resources.
The Reality
The reality is that the bill is essentially attempting to rewrite civil law to protect large companies at the expense of everyday workers.
Existing civil law allows those injured by the foreseeable misuse of products to recover financial compensation for their injuries.
This bill is attempting to prevent workers from recovering compensation for injuries caused by the entirely foreseeable misuse of stone slab products.
Stone slab manufacturers have caused too many workers to develop silicosis, an incurable, potentially fatal disease, and should be held accountable for this under the following legal causes of action:
- Negligence
- Products liability: failure to warn
- Products liability: design defect
- Fraudulent concealment
- Breach of implied warranties
Negligence
Companies must use ordinary care to ensure the safety of others and prevent others from being injured by their omissions or conduct. Failure to use this ordinary care is considered negligence.
Those injured by negligence have the right to recover compensation for their injuries from negligent parties through the civil court system. This concept is important because it protects workers from the consequences of others’ negligence.
Manufacturers and sellers of stone slab products knew or should have known that their products, when used as intended or foreseeably misused, would result in toxic, carcinogenic dust being indiscriminately released, and would lead to workers being exposed to airborne silica dust.
Yet, despite the fact that these manufacturers and sellers knew or should have known this, they continued to manufacture and sell their dangerous products without adequately warning others of toxic hazards, and without providing adequate instructions regarding how to safely use the products.
Stone slab manufacturers and sellers were negligent by manufacturing and selling dangerous products without warning about risks or providing adequate instructions even though they knew or should have known the products were dangerous. In addition, they negligently failed to adequately test their stone products. They should be held accountable for this negligence.
Products Liability: Failure to Warn
Companies who know or should know their products are dangerous yet fail to warn about the danger are strictly liable for any injuries caused by their products.
Stone slab manufacturers and sellers knew or should have known their products are dangerous when used as intended or foreseeably misused, yet failed to warn that their products could cause health hazards such as silicosis and lung cancer due to the release of respirable silica dust into the air.
They should be held accountable for this failure to warn.
Lawsuits have noted that numerous stone slab manufacturers had plenty of advance warning that their products were dangerous, including Caeserstone, Cambria and Cosentino.
Caeserstone
Caeserstone, when asked by Australian regulators when they first learned that those working with their products were getting sick, responded, in its opening statement, “2010.”
In addition, lawsuits allege that numerous Caeserstone officers and directors knew its artificial stone products were dangerously defective and knew that the warnings and instructions the company provided were inadequate, yet “consciously disregarded” the safety and health of workers.
The lawsuits allege that these officers and directors include:
- Yosef Shiran, Chief Executive Officer
- Yair Averbuch, Chief Financial Officer
- David Cullen, Chief Executive Officer of Caeserstone Australia
- Sagi Cohen, Chief Executive Officer of Caeserstone USA
- Arik Tendler, Chief Executive Officer and President of Caesarstone USA
Cambria
Cambria, on January 5, 2001, issued a Material Safety Data Sheet which indicated that the company knew their quartz surface products were dangerous by stating that:
- Cutting and grinding may generate dust which contains crystalline silica
- Continued overexposure to silica can lead to silicosis
However, both of these statements, while acknowledging the danger posed by their products, were misleading.
The former statement was misleading and false because dust which contains crystalline silica is always generated when their products are cut or ground.
The latter statement was misleading and false because respirable crystalline silica remains a silicosis risk even when the exposure to it is within occupational exposure limits, and is thus not an “overexposure.”
In other words, it appears that Cambria has known since 2001 that its products were dangerous yet chose to issue false and misleading statements rather than adequately warn about the dangerous associated with their products.
Lawsuits allege that numerous officers and directors at Cambria knew its products were dangerous yet chose to consciously disregard the safety and health of workers, including:
- Marty Davis, Chief Executive Officer and President
- Mark Davis, Chairman of the Board
- Jim Ward, Chief Operating Officer
- Arik Tendler, Chief Sales Officer
- Adam Sura, Director of Corporate Safety
Cosentino
Cosentino, on February 22, 1999, issued a Material Safety Data Sheet for its product known as Silestone.
This document instructs workers to use respirators or particulate masks when abrading or cutting the material. This instruction is an acknowledgment of the danger posed by the product.
However, the instruction was harmful and inadequate because air-purifying respirators and particulate masks are inadequate for the prevention of silicosis. Only air-supplied respirators can protect workers cutting or abrading this product from silicosis.
The document also instructs workers to observe “safe handling procedures” and to “handle with care.” These instructions, while also acknowledgements of the danger posed by the product, were meaningless and inadequate because they failed to tell workers:
- To use wet processing methods
- To wear air-supplied respirators
- To wear full body protection
Lawsuits allege that numerous officers and directors at Cosentino knew its products were dangerous yet consciously disregarded the safety and health of workers, including:
- Francisco Martinez-Cosentino Justo, President, CEO/Chairman of Cosentino Group
- Jose Martinez-Cosentino Justo, Vice President and General Treasurer
- Brandon Calvo, Chief Operations Officer of Cosentino North America
Products Liability: Design Defect
The stone products made and sold by defendants in silicosis lawsuits are defective by design. This makes the manufacturers and sellers strictly liable for all injuries caused by the products.
The products are defective by design because:
- They fail to perform as safely as ordinary users would expect when used or misused in intended or reasonably foreseeable manners
- The risks inherent in their designs outweigh the benefits thereof
The products fail to perform as safely as ordinary users would expect because the products lead to exposure to stone dust which causes serious disease as well as death.
In addition, alternative, safer product designs were completely feasible at the time the defendants’ products were manufactured and sold, yet the defendants chose not to utilize those alternative designs.
Manufacturers and sellers of defective stone products should be held accountable for injuries caused by the defective products.
Fraudulent Concealment
Stone slab manufacturing and selling defendants in silicosis lawsuits have had prior knowledge of the toxic, fibrogenic nature of their products, and that workers exposed to them develop silicosis.
The defendants had a legal duty to disclose via labels that their products were toxic, fibrogenic and could cause silicosis.
Lawsuits allege that the defendants fraudulently concealed these toxic hazards from the public so the public would use their products.
Companies who fraudulently conceal toxic hazards from the public should be held accountable for injuries caused by those products.
Breach of Implied Warranties
Stone slab manufacturing and selling defendants in silicosis lawsuits, when they placed their products into the stream of commerce, impliedly warranted that their products were not defective and would perform as safely as ordinary people would expect when they are used or misused in intended or reasonably foreseeable ways.
However, their products are defective because they do not perform as safely as an ordinary person would expect when used or misused in intended or reasonably foreseeable ways.
Thus, the defendants’ implied warranties have been breached and they should be held accountable for this.
What the Bill Means for Injured Workers
H.R. 5437, if passed, would eliminate a key legal avenue for stonecutters with silicosis to recover compensation from manufacturers.
Workers may still be able to pursue workers’ compensation claims against employers if the bill passes, but these recoveries are often limited.
The bill would also dismiss hundreds of pending cases before they can be resolved in court.
Legal experts note that the bill does not address the products’ underlying risks or require manufacturers to reduce silica content.
It is critical for affected workers to act quickly to file a claim before any legislative changes take effect.
Who Can File a Silicosis Lawsuit in California?
You or a loved one might be eligible to file a lawsuit over silicosis if you or your loved one spent a minimum of one year polishing, installing, cutting or fabricated engineered stone/quartz and then developed:
- Any kind of silicosis
- Progressive massive fibrosis (PMF)
- Severe obstructive/restrictive lung disease
- X-ray/HRCT evidence of ground-glass opacities, nodules or fibrosis
- Lung transplant evaluation or referral
Settings of silica dust exposure include:
- Engineered stone manufacturing plants
- Remodelers who do dry quartz cutting
- Countertop fabrication shops
- On-site installation crews
United States citizenship is not a requirement. Many claimants speak Spanish and undocumented immigrants can file claims under California law.
You may still qualify to file a lawsuit under California’s discovery rule even if your symptoms appeared years after exposure.
The families of those who died from silicosis linked with workplace silica exposure may also qualify to file a lawsuit with the help of our experienced wrongful death lawyers.
Call us today for a FREE case evaluation to determine your eligibility.
What Compensation Is Available in a Silicosis Lawsuit?
The value of your case will vary based on the severity of your diagnosis and the strength of any evidence.
Our law firm can help you recover financial compensation for many types of damages, including:
Medical Bills
This includes all past and future medical expenses associated with your silicosis diagnosis, such as the costs of hospitalizations, lung transplants, surgeries, medications, doctor visits, rehabilitation, physical therapy and more.
Lost Wages
This includes any wages you’re unable to earn because you’re too sick to work or have to take time off from work to attend medical appointments.
Loss of Earning Capacity
This includes any loss or reduction of earning capacity caused by a disability linked with your silicosis diagnosis.
Pain and Suffering
This includes financial compensation for any physical pain, mental suffering or emotional distress linked with your silicosis diagnosis.
Wrongful Death
If you lost a loved one to silicosis, you may qualify for compensation for things like:
- Funeral and burial costs
- The medical bills your loved one incurred prior to passing from silicosis
- The pain and suffering your loved one endured prior to passing from silicosis
- The loss of your loved one’s love, companionship, household services, income and spousal benefits
Punitive Damages
You may qualify for punitive damages intended to punish defendants for knowingly failing to warn workers about the dangers linked with their products.
FAQs
Are Engineered Stone Manufacturers Being Held Liable?
Yes.
Cambria alone faces approximately 400 lawsuits filed by stoneworkers who suffered silica-related injuries.
Cambria, in one California trial, was found partially liable by a jury for failing to adequately warn about hazards.
Cases are ongoing and outcomes vary depending upon the facts of each claim.
What Is the Statute of Limitations for a Silicosis Lawsuit in California?
Workers have two years from the date that they became aware that their silicosis diagnosis was the result of workplace exposure to silica dust to file a lawsuit.
Call our attorneys today for a FREE case evaluation before assuming your window has closed if you are unsure whether you still qualify.
Can I Still Sue If H.R. 5437 Passes?
Workers may still have viable claims against fabrication employers or other defendants if H.R. 5437 passes.
H.R. 5437 has not passed as of the current date and faces significant opposition.
Affected workers should consult with an attorney now to preserve their rights while all legal options are still available.
Contact Our Silicosis Attorneys Today
Call us today for a FREE consultation at (800) 718-4658 or contact us if you or a loved one was diagnosed with silicosis due to workplace silica dust exposure.
We can help you recover justice and financial compensation and will never charge you a single penny out of your own pocket.
Why Silicosis Victims Choose Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers
- Our experienced hazardous exposure lawyers have been successfully helping victims of hazardous substances since 1990.
- We provide free consultations and contingency fee representation, which means our only fee is a percentage of any compensation recovered and we don’t charge any legal fee until we win your case.
- Our responsive legal team provides reliable communication and 24/7 availability.
- We have the comprehensive resources necessary to take on the largest corporate defendants and win.
- Our high-stakes litigation team is experienced in taking on huge defendants in court and winning.
- We provide trial-ready representation, meaning we aren’t afraid to go to trial and won’t settle for less than the true value of your case.
- We and our legal teams have recovered over $750 million for clients.
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. All cases are unique and results depend on cases’ specific facts.
Call us today for a FREE consultation at (800) 718-4658.
