Mealey's Asbestos
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June 30, 2022
Justice: Conflicting Testimony, Unsigned Affidavit Can’t Overcome Summary Judgment
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — Faulty, inadmissible affidavits and contradictory testimony do not establish asbestos exposure from a defendant’s pumps and are not enough to overcome summary judgment in an asbestos case, a New York justice said June 6 in granting the defendant’s motion.
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June 30, 2022
5th Circuit Briefed On LHWCA ‘Twilight Zone’ Claims Preemption
NEW ORLEANS — Parties to a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals case involving whether the Longshore Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) preempts asbestos claims filed supplemental briefs on how “twilight zone” concurrent jurisdiction works when a state does not provide a workers’ compensation remedy and in June 27 and 28 letter briefs debated the impact of recent district court rulings.
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June 30, 2022
Federal Judge Dismisses Asbestos Suit Cross-Claims Against Insurer, Corporations
NEW ORLEANS — One day after a shipbuilder defendant moved to dismiss its claims against cross-claim and third-party defendants in an asbestos liability coverage suit filed against corporations and their insurers, alleging that a man contracted malignant mesothelioma and died due to his inhalation of asbestos fibers, a Louisiana federal judge on June 21 granted the motion without prejudice.
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June 29, 2022
Garrett Motion: Asbestos Securities Class Should Be Dismissed With Prejudice
NEW YORK — A third amended complaint largely rehashes previously dismissed allegations against Garrett Motion Inc. stemming from its asbestos-related spin off from Honeywell International Inc. and fails to show causation, the company told a New York federal court on June 24 in seeking dismissal with prejudice.
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June 28, 2022
New York Court Won’t Stay Asbestos Trial Pending Valve Company Appeals
NEW YORK — A New York appeals court on June 16 denied motions seeking a stay while a valve company appeals a pair of rulings that leave it facing trial in an asbestos case.
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June 28, 2022
Co-Worker’s Asbestos Eyewitness Testimony Can’t Save Case, Pa. Court Says
PHILADELPHIA — Co-worker testimony identifying asbestos-containing products simply by sight does not support a negligence claim, and a court did not err in excluding unauthenticated documentary evidence, a Pennsylvania appeals court said June 23 in affirming summary judgment for a defendant.
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June 28, 2022
2 Companies Urge South Carolina Top Court To Review Asbestos Verdict
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Two asbestos defendants that saw a $300,000 verdict against them increased to almost $2 million by the trial court told the South Carolina Supreme Court on June 6 that the appellees never grapple with challenges to that increase or the causation issues that led to the award.
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June 23, 2022
Iowa Supreme Court Limits Statute Precluding Third-Party Asbestos Liability
DES MOINES, Iowa — In enacting a law limiting the liability of defendants sued for third-party asbestos products, the Iowa Legislature sought to adopt the bare-metal defense; however, the law’s reach is limited to manufacturers and sellers and does not apply in a premises liability case, a divided Iowa Supreme Court said June 17.
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June 23, 2022
Plaintiffs File Asbestos-Talc Actions Against J&J After Judge Lifts Bankruptcy Stay
OAKLAND, Calif. — Plaintiffs filed a pair of asbestos-talc tort actions naming Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and various retailers June 16 in a California court after the judge overseeing the LTL Management LLC bankruptcy granted a limited lift of a preliminary injunction and stay enjoining asbestos actions against the debtor, J&J and other affiliates.
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June 21, 2022
Louisiana Federal Judge Grants Ex Parte Dismissals In Asbestos Liability Suit
NEW ORLEANS — Almost two weeks after granting an ex parte joint motion to dismiss with prejudice, a Louisiana federal judge on June 13 issued an order granting plaintiffs’ ex parte motion to dismiss with prejudice against specified defendants in an asbestos liability coverage suit alleging that a man contracted malignant mesothelioma and died due to his inhalation of asbestos fibers.
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June 21, 2022
Plaintiff/Defense Experts Testifying Since Jan. 1, 2002
(Includes plaintiff and defense experts who testified in trials covered in The Report since Jan. 1, 2002.)
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June 21, 2022
Louisiana Jury Returns $36.7 Million Verdict In Mesothelioma Case
NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana jury on May 23 awarded a former pipe fitter $36.7 million for mesothelioma, found negligence on the part of 20 defendants in addition to the defendant at trial and returned a defense verdict for a second trial defendant.
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June 21, 2022
Survival Damages Not Available In Maritime Wrongful Death Asbestos Case, Judge Says
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Nothing in the historical context, precedent or policy realm warrant allowing survival damages in a maritime wrongful death suit, a federal judge said in a June 10 opinion explaining a previous order dismissing the asbestos-related claim.
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June 21, 2022
Crane Co., Plaintiff Tell Court Stipulated Dismissal Resolves Asbestos Case
NEW YORK — A previous stipulated dismissal with prejudice resolved all asbestos claims against all parties, a plaintiff and Crane Co. tell a New York federal judge in a June 6 joint letter.
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June 17, 2022
Rhode Island Judge: Evidence Keeps Union Carbide In Asbestos Case
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Permits documenting work combined with testimony about that work and that a company’s joint compound contained Union Carbide Corp.’s Calidria asbestos during the period suffice to overcome summary judgment as challenges go to the weight of that evidence, a judge in Rhode Island said June 15.
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June 17, 2022
John Crane Inc. Argues Lack Of Damages Dooms Maritime Asbestos Suit
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Having failed to demonstrate damages for which she can recover in a maritime case, a widow’s asbestos suit is doomed, John Crane Inc. (JCI) argues in a supplemental motion seeking summary judgment June 14.
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June 17, 2022
New York Bill Expanding Wrongful Death Claims Heads To Governor
ALBANY, N.Y. — A New York state bill expanding who can recover wrongful death damages and the types of damages available and extending the statute of limitations for such suits to 3-1/2 years from two years awaits the governor’s signature after passage by the Senate and Assembly June 2.
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June 15, 2022
Magistrate Judge: Asbestos Plaintiffs Don’t Have Info Guaranty Association Seeks
BATON ROUGE, La. — A Louisiana federal magistrate judge on June 13 denied a motion to compel responses to discovery filed by the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA), the statutory obliger for an insolvent insurer in an asbestos exposure suit filed against the insurer, finding that plaintiffs lack the information requested and that LIGA’s settlement-related request is “premature.”
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June 15, 2022
Ford Plans For Daubert Hearing, Seeks Reconsideration On Summary Judgment
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Ford Motor Co. and other defendants on June 10 proposed a schedule for an upcoming hearing on defendants’ motions to exclude asbestos experts while in a separate motion argued that the court improperly denied it summary judgment in reliance on experts it moved to exclude.
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June 15, 2022
With Removing Defendant Dismissed, Judge Remands Illinois Asbestos Case
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Dismissal of the lone defendant claiming federal jurisdiction leaves only state law claims belonging in the plaintiffs’ chosen state court forum, an Illinois federal judge said in remanding an asbestos case on June 10.