https://www.stonespecialist.com/news/market-intelligence/cosentino-owner-gets-suspended-prison-sentence-not-providing-sufficient  

Francisco  Martinez, who owns Cosentino, the Spanish manufacturer of Silestone and  Dekton, has agreed to pay €1.1million compensation to five people  (although one of them has died) who said they were not provided with  adequate warning of the risk of being exposed to silica dust as a result  of cutting and polishing Silestone countertops.

The compensation was part of a plea deal in a court in Spain that saw  a prison sentence of two years nine months sought by the prosecutors  reduced to six months (suspended) for five counts of serious injury due  to gross negligence, reports Reuters.

Cosentino immediately issued a statement saying that liability had  been admitted for providing insufficient technical information affecting  five workers at a specific workshop only, and that the court’s ruling  "cannot be generalized to any past or future proceedings". (You can read  the full Cosentino statement by clicking here or on the link at the end of this report.)

Reuters says 71-year-old Francisco Martinez is due to appear in court  again in July for a separate trial in the northern Spanish city of  Bilbao, where prosecutors are asking for two and a half years'  imprisonment on six counts of reckless injury.

Cosentino employs more than 5,000 people worldwide and posted record  sales of €1.4billion for 2021. It reportedly plans an initial public  offering (IPO) of shares that could be worth as much as €3billion.

Cosentino’s statement says "it is the fabrication shops’  responsibility to ensure the safety of their workers by properly  implementing and enforcing safety measures".

It also says: "News articles that refer to other admissions made by  Cosentino are completely false, including that Cosentino concealed  information about the health & safety measures required to fabricate  Silestone or that the handling of Silestone has caused the majority of  cases of silicosis that have affected 1,856 workers."

It points out that this case took place in a "context where the  relevant facts of the case are from more than 15 years ago when the  applicable legislation was imprecise, and the science of occupational  risk prevention had not yet evolved to today's standards".

According to Reuters, in the ruling on 7 February the judge said  Francisco Martinez had failed to provide adequate warning of the danger  from the silica content of Silestone despite being aware of the safety  and health risks that the processing of the material entailed.

 Innovative’s claims about Stonemark’s germlessness are misleading,  Cosentino says, “because they imply that EPA approval or clearance has  been obtained for the antimicrobial claims, when in fact no such  approval or clearance has been obtained.” 

https://www.twincities.com/2007/12/20/germ-free-countertop-war-to-play-out-in-court/

https://www.reuters.com/business/owner-spains-cosentino-admits-concealing-cause-silicosis-1900-workers-2023-02-07/

 Francisco Martinez, who owns Spain's leading kitchen worktop  manufacturer Cosentino, accepted a six-month suspended prison sentence  for five counts of serious injury due to gross negligence in a plea  bargain with the court in the northwestern region of Galicia. 

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2568687/silestone-experience

" HORRIBLE, DO NOT BUY  SILESTONE countertops!!! Had less than 1  year, cracked and they won't warranty. One of many many of us who this  has happened to. Blames the customer for everything, no testing to  figure out what happened, and walks away. "

 https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2568687/silestone-experience 

Joseph is incorrect about Silestone being reparable.  Firstly, you can  wipe your a$$ with the warranty, because that's all it's good for.  I  paid almost $300 to get the small nicks repaired, but the "patches" are  very obvious on my solid off white countertop, and also, you tend to get  a lot of "pin prick nicks" all over the countertop...the patch material  doesn't adhere to these smaller chips. 

 We purchased SILESTONE (COSENTINO) (Roseville, Ca) counter tops for our  kitchen remodel from LOWES (Cotati Ca.) on 3/4/2016. After discussing  different installation options, we chose to use Lowes installer which  was COUNTER FIT STONE (Sacramento Ca.). All 3 of these companies  knowingly sold / installed an inferior countertop which came with a  useless 20-year warranty

https://www.pissedconsumer.com/people/1131945.html