DECATUR, GA—After seven years of litigation, Simmons Hanly Conroy has secured a $5 million jury verdict against Honda and Yamaha companies on behalf of a Georgia man diagnosed with an exceptionally rare form of malignant mesothelioma following asbestos exposure from motorcycle brake work.
The verdict was returned Oct. 5, 2026, in Donald G. Lassiter v. Akebono Brake Corporation, et al., in the State Court of DeKalb County, Georgia, before Judge Alvin T. Wong. The jury found in Donald Gregory “Greg” Lassiter’s favor and placed 100% of the liability on the Honda and Yamaha defendants.
Lassiter was diagnosed in August 2019 at age 58 with peritoneal mesothelioma. As a teenager, he was an avid motocross racer who maintained and repaired motorcycles from several manufacturers, including Honda and Yamaha, regularly changing brakes from approximately 1973 through 1984.
The case presented unusual scientific and legal challenges. Lassiter’s exposure involved chrysotile asbestos from motorcycle brakes and a non-occupational, hobbyist exposure pattern different from the industrial exposures more commonly seen in asbestos litigation. Establishing causation against friction-product defendants under those circumstances required attorneys to assemble experts capable of explaining Lassiter’s exposure and the medical science to the jury.
To reconstruct Lassiter’s exposure, the Simmons Hanly Conroy team located and purchased the same model Yamaha motorcycle on which he had worked and obtained genuine Yamaha and Honda brake components. The brakes were tested and used in work-practice studies that became important evidence in the case. The litigation also involved extensive corporate discovery, including depositions of Yamaha representatives in Japan, numerous expert challenges, and opposition to nearly a dozen summary judgment and Daubert motions.
Lassiter’s history as a motocross racer also became a poignant part of his testimony. At trial, he brought a trophy he earned at age 15 after being knocked off the track early in the 1976 Georgia State High School Motocross Championship and battling back to finish eighth. Lassiter testified that the experience taught him to “always be tough,” a lesson he carried from racing into his fight with cancer.
Multiple judges oversaw the case, and at trial the court required the team to present the complex scientific and historical evidence on a compressed schedule. The result came in a demanding jurisdiction for asbestos plaintiffs. The jury ultimately returned a unanimous verdict for Lassiter.
The case was developed by Partner Melissa Crowe Schopfer and her asbestos trial team. The trial was led by Partners Daniel Blouin and Gary DiMuzio. Sokolove Law, Zinns Law, and Buck Law Firm also assisted the Simmons Hanly Conroy team.
