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Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy

  • July 19, 2019

    Fraser’s Insurer Appeals Negative Ruling In Row Over Contribution Claims

    TACOMA, Wash. — An insurer of Chapter 11 asbestos debtor Fraser’s Boiler Service Inc. on July 17 appealed to federal district court a bankruptcy court’s denial of its bid to vacate a stipulated order it entered into with the debtor’s settling insurers so it can continue to pursue state court contribution and breach of contract claims against the settling insurers (National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA v. Fraser’s Boiler Service, Inc., et al., No. 3:19-cv-5648, W.D. Wash.).

  • July 18, 2019

    Bankruptcy Judge Sends Duro Dyne’s Plan To District Court For Confirmation

    TRENTON, N.J. — The plan of reorganization for Chapter 11 asbestos debtor Duro Dyne National Corp. is in the hands of a New Jersey federal court after a bankruptcy judge on July 16 sent the district court proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law and a recommendation to confirm the plan (In re:  Duro Dyne National Corp., et al., No. 18-27963, D. N.J. Bkcy.).

  • July 18, 2019

    9th Circuit Upholds Dismissal Of ASARCO’s Contribution Claim For Site Cleanup

    SEATTLE — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 17 upheld a federal judge in Idaho’s ruling that American Smelting and Refining Co. (ASARCO) could not seek contribution under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) from Union Pacific Railroad Co., finding that the judge did not err when finding that its claim was barred by a bankruptcy settlement and that the plaintiff company paid less than its allocated share of liability (ASARCO LLC v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., No. 18-35713, 9th Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 21168).

  • July 18, 2019

    Maremont’s Plan Takes Effect; Asbestos Claims Channeled To Trust

    WILMINGTON, Del. — The prepackaged plan of reorganization for Chapter 11 debtor Maremont Corp. is fully approved and became effective July 9, establishing a multimillion dollar trust to resolve and pay asbestos claims, the debtor says in a Delaware federal bankruptcy court notice (In re:  Maremont Corporation, et al., No. 19-10118, D. Del. Bkcy.).

  • July 11, 2019

    Montana High Court Told Asbestos-Tainted Vermiculite Transport Claims Preempted

    HELENA, Mont. — Transporting vermiculate in the 1970s was not an abnormally dangerous activity for a railroad, and federal law preempts any claims arising from “small traces” of asbestos contamination, BNSF Railway Co. tells the Montana Supreme Court in a July 8 brief (BNSF Railway Co. v. The Asbestos Claims Court of the State of Montana, et al., Nos. OP 19-0085, Mont. Sup.).

  • July 10, 2019

    Plaintiffs With State Court Judgments Against Imerys Can Continue With Appeals

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy judge on June 27 lifted the automatic stay in the Chapter 11 case of Imerys Talc America Inc. to allow state court appeals of two asbestos liability judgments against the debtor totaling more than $48 million to proceed under stipulations allowing the judgments to be collected from bonds if the appeals are unsuccessful (In re:  Imerys Talc America, Inc., et al., No. 1:19-bk-10289, D. Del. Bkcy.).

  • July 2, 2019

    Imerys’ Insurers Denied Relief From Stay To Continue California Coverage Suit

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Excess insurers of Chapter 11 debtor Imerys Talc America Inc. will have to wait for the outcome of an adversary proceeding in Delaware federal bankruptcy court to find out what coverage is available for asbestos claims under policies issued to the debtor and affiliates after the court on June 28 denied the insurers’ request for relief from the bankruptcy stay to allow a California court to decide the coverage issues (In re:  Imerys Talc America, Inc., et al., No. 19-10289, D. Del. Bkcy.).

  • June 27, 2019

    Bankruptcy Of Talc Supplier Not Grounds For Removal, Judge Rules

    BOSTON — A federal judge in Massachusetts on June 19 remanded a woman’s lawsuit claiming that a deceased man’s exposure to asbestos-containing talc products sold by Johnson & Johnson caused him to develop mesothelioma and die, finding that the bankruptcy filing of the company that supplied talc to Johnson & Johnson does not trigger federal jurisdiction (Louisemarie Honor v. Johnson & Johnson, No. 19-10760-RWZ, D. Mass., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103057).

  • June 27, 2019

    Woman Prompts Judge For Ruling On Her Appeal In Row Over Her Meso Claim

    NEW YORK — A mesothelioma sufferer seeking to vacate a bankruptcy court ruling that her premises liability claim against a subsidiary of former Chapter 11 debtor Johns-Manville Corp. is enjoined by a bankruptcy injunction used a New York federal judge’s local rules on May 30 to remind him that her appeal has been fully briefed and waiting for a decision for more than two years (Lynda Berry v. Graphic Packaging International, Inc., No. 16-5817, S.D. N.Y.).

  • June 27, 2019

    Insurers, Asbestos Trust Denied Judgment In Dispute Over Audit Rights

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware Chancery Court judge on June 14 denied all pretrial motions for summary judgment and to strike expert opinions in a dispute over the scope of insurers’ rights to audit an asbestos trust for evidence of fraud (AIU Insurance Company, et al. v. Philips Electronics North America Corporation, et al., No. 9852, Del. Chanc.).

  • June 27, 2019

    Hospital Seeks Remand In Effort To Certify Class For Building Asbestos Claims

    PHILADELPHIA — A hospital’s bid to pursue class claims for asbestos property damage against former Chapter 11 debtor W.R. Grace & Co. should be remanded; otherwise, the company’s reorganization plan will be allowed to overrule the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the hospital tells the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a June 17 reply brief (In re Grace & Co., et al., No. 18-1960, 3rd Cir.).

  • June 26, 2019

    Debtor Says Court’s Errors Led To Rejection Of Settlements With Insurers

    TACOMA, Wash. — A Washington federal court erred in reversing approval of settlements between Chapter 11 debtor Fraser’s Boiler Service Inc. and several asbestos liability insurers based on a misinterpretation of bankruptcy law, the debtor argues in its June 10 opening brief in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (Fraser’s Boiler Service, Inc. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, et al, No. 19-35269, 9th Cir.).

  • June 21, 2019

    Fraser’s Insurers Battle Over Reopening State Court Contribution Action

    TACOMA, Wash. — A group of insurers of Chapter 11 asbestos debtor Fraser’s Boiler Service Inc. who are awaiting a decision from the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on whether their settlement with the debtor is valid on June 19 objected to a bid by a nonsettling insurer to allow state court contribution claims against the settling insurers to continue, calling the effort misguided and premature (In re:  Fraser’s Boiler Service, Inc., No. 18-41245, W.D. Wash. Bkcy.).

  • June 18, 2019

    Trustee Says Recent Imerys Findings Bolster His Stance In Duro Dyne Appeal

    TRENTON, N.J. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy court’s recent decision appointing a future claimants’ representative (FCR) in the asbestos Chapter 11 case of Imerys Talc America supports arguments that the FCR appointment for Duro Dyne National Corp. was done improperly, the U.S. trustee says in a May 21 letter in his New Jersey federal court appeal of the Duro Dyne FCR appointment (Andrew R. Vara v. Duro Dyne National Corp., et al., No. 3:18-cv-15563, D. N.J.).

  • June 17, 2019

    U.S. Trustee Objects To Latest Version Of Duro Dyne’s Plan

    TRENTON, N.J. — The newly revised plan of reorganization for Chapter 11 asbestos debtor Duro Dyne National Corp. still cannot be confirmed because the company failed to modify the plan as a New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge directed, the U.S. trustee says in a June 11 objection to the plan (In re:  Duro Dyne National Corp., et al., No. 18-27963, D. N.J. Bkcy.).

  • June 13, 2019

    California Jury Hits Colgate, J&J With $12M Asbestos-Talc Verdict

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A California jury on June 12 held Johnson & Johnson and Colgate-Palmolive Inc. liable for a retired teacher’s talc-related mesothelioma and awarded her nearly $12 million, sources told Mealey Publications (Schmitz v Johnson & Johnson, No. RG18923615, Calif. Super., Alameda Co.).

  • June 13, 2019

    Pipeline Appeals Mooted By Trump’s Issuance Of Permit, 9th Circuit Rules

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 6 dismissed appeals of a judge’s decision to halt work on the Keystone XL Pipeline due in part to threats to Native Americans’ land and water, ruling that the challenges are now moot because President Donald Trump issued a new permit allowing pipeline construction to continue (Indigenous Environmental Network, et al. v. U.S. Department of State, et al., Nos. 18-36068, 18-36069, 19-35036, 19-35064, 19-35099, 9th Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 17095).

  • June 11, 2019

    Johnson & Johnson Losing Its Fight To Transfer Cases, Tort Claimants Tell Court

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Two companies’ attempt to corral 2,400 state court talc and asbestos actions into Delaware federal bankruptcy court based on the Chapter 11 filing of their main talc supplier, Imerys Talc America Inc., has resulted in 346 cases that they removed in anticipation of the transfer being remanded back to the state courts, the Official Committee of Tort Claimants tells a Delaware federal judge in a June 6 letter to supplement the record (In re:  Imerys Talc America, Inc., et al., No. 1:19-mc-00103, D. Del.).

  • June 11, 2019

    Maremont’s Plan Confirmed, Faces Final Hurdle In District Court

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy court on May 28 sent the newly confirmed prepackaged plan of reorganization for Chapter 11 debtor Maremont Corp. to federal district court for final approval (In re:  Maremont Corporation, et al., No. 19-10118, D. Del. Bkcy., 2019 Bankr. LEXIS 1742).

  • June 10, 2019

    Asbestos MDL Judge Finds Pa. Registration-Jurisdiction Statute Unconstitutional

    PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania law requiring businesses consent to jurisdiction when registering to do business in the state is unconstitutional and violates Daimler AG v. Bauman, the federal judge in Pennsylvania who oversees the asbestos federal multidistrict litigation held June 6 (In re: Asbestos Products Liability Litigation, Jackie L. Sullivan, et al. v. A.W. Chesterton Inc., et al., No. MDL 875, 18-3622, E.D. Pa.).