BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Yellowstone County has agreed to pay $650,000 to settle a case brought by a former courthouse janitor who eventually died of mesothelioma.

The Billings Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/1NzxVbk ) the county reached the settlement in November with the estate of Lauren DuPuis, who filed a civil complaint saying he was exposed to asbestos while he worked at the county courthouse as a janitor.

The complaint filed in April claims the exposure beginning in the 1980s resulted in DuPuis contracting mesothelioma and becoming permanently disabled.

DuPuis died in July of the rare cancer that affects membrane lining the lungs and abdomen. Asbestos exposure is the only known cause of mesothelioma.

DuPuis' attorneys represented their client's estate because he had passed away before the settlement was reached.

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