Mealey's Asbestos
-
March 05, 2024
Idaho Federal Judge Dismisses Criminal Count Brought Under CAA Asbestos Standards
POCATELLO, Idaho — The United States failed to allege a criminal offense arising from the Clean Air Act (CAA) in one count of its indictment against a man who allegedly violated the statute by failing to comply with certain asbestos standards when demolishing two buildings because the language of the CAA does not make failing to thoroughly inspect a building for asbestos a crime, an Idaho federal judge found in granting the man’s motion to dismiss in part.
-
March 04, 2024
Parties Debate Consolidation Of Certain Injury Asbestos Cases Against Employer
HARTFORD, Conn. — Superficial similarities do not warrant consolidated trial of four asbestos cases against a former employer under the certain injury exception, and any such trial would leave the jury with the “herculean task” of sorting through the evidence to determine how it applies to the various exposures, work locations and time periods, an employer tells a Connecticut judge in a March 1 amended opposition.
-
March 04, 2024
John Crane: Jurisdiction, Damages Ruling Basis Doom Seaman’s Asbestos Challenge
BOSTON — A court lacks jurisdiction over a case where a widow chose not to proceed under admiralty jurisdiction and where a judge didn’t decide defenses or liabilities, but even if the court considers the case, nonpecuniary damages are not available in a seaman’s case against a product supplier, John Crane Inc. tells the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a March 1 brief.
-
March 04, 2024
J&J Special Master Wants Responsive Documents Prior To Decision On Subpoena
TRENTON, N.J. — The special master overseeing the federal Johnson & Johnson multidistrict asbestos talc litigation said a consulting firm should produce documents responsive to a subpoena seeking communications between it and law firms the defendant seeks to disqualify, after which the parties can confer about any resulting privileged documents prior to a ruling on a motion to quash.
-
March 01, 2024
Talc Special Master Quashes Subpoena Seeking Moline Study Participants
TRENTON, N.J. — Because asbestos expert Jacqueline Moline will not testify at trial, and no other expert appears to rely on her study involving asbestos-talc exposure and mesothelioma, Johnson & Johnson’s subpoena seeking the names of individuals in the study is irrelevant, a special master in the federal talc multidistrict litigation said Feb. 29 in granting a motion to quash.
-
February 29, 2024
South Carolina Top Court Rejects Cumulative Exposure Argument, Affirms Verdict
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Expert testimony and other evidence that led to an asbestos verdict did not constitute cumulative exposure theory, and lower court rulings did not run afoul of the state’s causation standard, the South Carolina Supreme Court said Feb. 28.
-
February 28, 2024
Judge: Former Libby, Mont., Asbestos Clinic Director Must Sit For Deposition
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A federal judge in Montana overseeing an asbestos action against a railway denied two motions to quash a subpoena issued to the former director of a medical clinic in Libby, Mont., giving the parties two hours to depose the witness and circumscribing what may be asked at the deposition.
-
February 28, 2024
Judge Delays Asbestos Trial As Parties Can’t Meet 3-Week Trial Limit
NEW ORLEANS — In light of the “inability or unwillingness” of the parties to propose a reasonable trial length and the many outstanding objections, a federal judge in Louisiana said he would delay an asbestos trial until April.
-
February 28, 2024
Court: Single-Source Asbestosis Case Avoids Texas Dose Requirement
HOUSTON — Because the record shows that a woman’s asbestos exposures came from a single company’s facility and reliable expert testimony established that her asbestosis could have only been caused by asbestos exposure, the evidence satisfies the state’s substantial factor causation standard even without reference to the dose required for disease, a Texas appeals court said Feb. 27 in reversing summary judgment for the company.
-
February 27, 2024
4th Circuit Tosses Appeal Of Asbestos Coverage Row With S.C. Guaranty Association
RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 26 dismissed an insurer’s appeal of a district court’s order remanding to state court a receiver’s asbestos coverage suit against insurers and the South Carolina Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association, finding that the court does not have jurisdiction over the remand order.
-
February 27, 2024
Judge Again Denies Company’s Motion To Sanction Asbestos Attorney
LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California adopted a tentative ruling denying yet another effort by a company to sanction an asbestos plaintiff’s attorney, saying the company waived one of its arguments by not responding and failed to show that comments during trial about others that served aboard ships or a screen saver some jurors might have seen that potentially showed family members were false or constitute bad faith.
-
February 27, 2024
New York Jury Finds For AII In Barbershop Asbestos-Talc Case
NEW YORK — A New York jury returned a defense verdict for American International Inc. (AII) over claims that a woman suffered exposure to asbestos in talc used at the barbershop where her husband worked, sources told Mealey Publications.
-
February 26, 2024
Judge: Sophisticated User Doctrine Can’t Free Manufacturer From Asbestos Case
NEW ORLEANS — A manufacturer of composite panels installed aboard ships can’t escape its duty to warn in an asbestos case based on sophisticated user doctrine, a federal judge in Louisiana said in a case on the verge of trial.
-
February 22, 2024
Tobacco Defendant’s Failure To Produce Asbestos Evidence Not Willful, Justice Says
NEW YORK — There is no evidence that a tobacco company’s failure to produce reports it no longer has in its possession about testing performed on asbestos-containing Micronite cigarette filters was willful, a New York justice said in denying a motion that sought to compel production or dismiss the company’s answer.
-
February 22, 2024
3rd Circuit To Decide Asbestos-Talc Securities Class Certification Dispute
PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 21 agreed to hear a case challenging class certification of a securities fraud lawsuit after Johnson & Johnson and related parties told the court that certifying a price-drop suit based on media reports of already public information about potential asbestos contamination of talc products could lead to “extortionate litigation.”
-
February 22, 2024
Judge Tells Parties To Reduce Estimated Asbestos Trial Timeline
NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana ordered parties to a household asbestos exposure case to meet and confer for a second time and figure out how to fit an upcoming trial into a three-week window.
-
February 21, 2024
Governo Firm Says Injury Arose From Taking Of Asbestos Records
BOSTON — A trial judge erred when he ignored previous jury findings about conversion of a law firm’s asbestos records during a second trial on a separate statutory claim, and the claim required only an adverse effect, which the loss of those records and attorney fees incurred in litigating the conversion claim satisfied, a law firm told a Massachusetts appeals court.
-
February 20, 2024
Parties In Appeal Over Asbestos Trust Expert’s Audit Finish Briefing
NEW ORLEANS — Parties involved in a dispute between a B-reader and a company that performed an audit that eventually led to his exclusion from an asbestos trust claim submission process briefed the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on whether litigation privilege precluded the suit and whether there was any link between the audit and his exclusion that would give the trial court jurisdiction.
-
February 20, 2024
Judge Rejects Reinsurer’s Efforts To Quash Service In Settlement Reimbursement Row
OMAHA, Neb. — Ruling that a Brazil-based reinsurer “failed to rebut [an insurer’s] prima facie case of effective service of process,” a Nebraska federal judge denied the reinsurer’s motions to vacate default and quash service in the suit over reimbursement for a settlement reached with Montana regarding alleged asbestos exposure.
-
February 16, 2024
Turbine Seller, Installer Can’t Be Strictly Liable In Maryland Asbestos Case
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A company that “wore two hats” in both selling and then subcontracting the installation of an asbestos-containing turbine at a power station cannot be held strictly liable because the turbine never truly left its possession or control, a Maryland court said in affirming summary judgment.
-
February 15, 2024
Man Appeals Ruling Finding Asbestos Tolling Agreement Void
NEW ORLEANS — A Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) claimant allegedly exposed to asbestos once again appealed a grant of summary judgment in favor of his former railroad employer in which a federal judge in Texas found that state law prohibited the type of implied indefinite tolling of statute limitations used by the parties in the case to settle hundreds of asbestos claims.
-
February 14, 2024
Claims Against LIGA Tossed In Asbestos Coverage Suit Involving Insolvent Insurer
NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge granted summary judgment to the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) and dismissed an asbestos liability suit against it, finding that the claims for asbestos-related lung cancer against LIGA, as the statutory obligor for a now-insolvent insurer, are not covered claims.
-
February 14, 2024
European Rights Court Awards Asbestos Damages, Finds Swiss Time Bar Improper
STRASBOURGH, France — By finding that the statute of limitations began when a man suffered his last exposure to asbestos and barred claimants’ action, a Swiss court violated the European Convention on Human Rights entitlement to court access, the European Court of Human Rights said Feb. 13.
-
February 14, 2024
Washington Panel: Asbestos Knowledge Doesn’t Meet Intentional Injury Standard
SEATTLE — The state’s intentional injury exception to workers’ compensation exclusivity requires knowledge that the specific individual in question will be injured, a standard that knowledge about the presence of asbestos at an aluminum facility and the associated dangers do not meet, a Washington appeals court said in affirming summary judgment for a former employer.
-
February 13, 2024
Hospital Says Burden, Third-Party Status Warranted Quashing Asbestos Subpoena
RICHMOND, Va. — Third-party subpoenas fall under a higher standard that an asbestos defendant cannot meet given the evidence’s marginal relationship to the case, a hospital told the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 12, also arguing that the burden that disclosing anonymous study participants would impose supports a trial court’s decision to quash the subpoena.