Former asbestos workers will share $145 million.

More than 700 former asbestos workers will share the money as part of a settlement of a lawsuit in which workers blamed manufacturers for their asbestos-related diseases, plaintiffs’ attorneys said. The settlement ended the first class-action asbestosis trial in the nation, according to Walter Umphrey, who represented 539 of the 741 plaintiffs. Workers contended that their health was damaged or destroyed by their exposure to asbestos products, and they sued 13 companies, primarily manufacturers.