Mealey's Asbestos
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May 13, 2019
5th Circuit Grants En Banc Review Of Asbestos Remand Ruling
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 8 agreed to en banc consideration of the proper standard for removal of asbestos cases after the 2011 amendment expanding the federal removal statute to claims “relating to” federal officer work (James A. Latiolais v. Huntington Ingalls Inc., et al., No. 18-30652, 5th Cir.).
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May 13, 2019
Johnson & Johnson’s Bid For Speedy Transfer Of State Cases Rejected
WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal judge on May 9 denied Johnson & Johnson’s “emergency” request to transfer 2,400 state court talc and asbestos actions to his court due to the bankruptcy filing of talc supplier Imerys Talc America Inc., agreeing with tort plaintiffs that Johnson & Johnson created its own emergency by suddenly removing hundreds of suits before the transfer dispute was decided (In re: Imerys Talc America, Inc., et al., No. 1:19-mc-00103, D. Del., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 78145).
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May 10, 2019
Navy Suppliers Urge Narrow Reading Of Bare-Metal Ruling
SEATTLE — A 2018 asbestos wrongful death action is timely because the decedent died in 2015 with a viable asbestos personal injury claim, meaning the wrongful death claim accrued at death, a widow tells a Washington federal judge in a May 8 memo seeking reconsideration (Sherri L. Deem, et al. v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., et al., No. 17-5965, W.D. Wash.).
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May 9, 2019
Judge: 5 Companies Escape ‘Vague’ Asbestos Allegations
TACOMA, Wash. — The allegations in an asbestos suit are too vague to keep five manufacturing defendants in the case, a federal judge in Washington state held in a handful of May 6 rulings (Donald Varney, et al. v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., et al., No. 18-5105, W.D. Wash.).
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May 9, 2019
New York Justice Affirms Viability Of $7,024,000 Buffalo Asbestos Verdict
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The jury heard admissible and sufficient evidence supporting a $7,024,000 verdict for a police officer suffering from mesothelioma, a New York justice held in an opinion posted May 7 (James Stock Jr., et al. v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., et al., No. 807846/2017, N.Y. Sup., Erie Co.).
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May 8, 2019
Johnson & Johnson Seeks Dismissal Of Securities Class Action
TRENTON, N.J. — The lead plaintiff in a securities class action against health care products manufacturer Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and several of its current and former senior executives has failed to plead any material misstatements or omissions, scienter or loss causation in alleging that the defendants concealed from investors that their talc and baby powder products contained asbestos in violation of federal securities laws, the defendants argue in a May 3 motion to dismiss filed in New Jersey federal court (Frank Hall v. Johnson & Johnson, et al., No. 18-1833, D. N.J.).
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May 7, 2019
Judge Rejects Asbestos Plaintiffs’ Declaratory Judgment Action
PEORIA, Ill. — Asbestos plaintiffs on April 25 appealed jurisdictional dismissal of their action seeking a declaratory ruling that Schlage Lock Co. LLC was liable for any asbestos damages incurred by an alleged predecessor (Robert M. Amling, et al v. Schlage Lock Co. LLC, et al., No. 18-3108, C.D. Ill., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69024).
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May 7, 2019
Montana High Court Seeks More Briefing On Railway Asbestos Case
HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Supreme Court on April 16 asked for full briefing on the state’s asbestos court’s conclusion that federal law did not preempt asbestos claims against BNSF Railway Co. and that the defendant could be strictly liable (BNSF Railway Co. v. The Asbestos Claims Court of the State of Montana, et al., Nos. OP 19-0085, DA 19-0085, Mont. Sup., 2019 Mont. LEXIS 151).
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May 6, 2019
Judge: Manufacturer Stays In California Asbestos Suit; Association Escapes
SAN FRANCISCO — An automotive parts company is subject to jurisdiction in California based on its conduct there, but a trade group that merely licenses its name to manufacturers has no such connection, a federal judge in California held April 29 (Thomas Toy, et al. v. Honeywell International Inc., et al., No. 19-325, N.D. Calif., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72087, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72088).
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May 6, 2019
Johnson & Johnson Loses Attempt To Corral Meso Case Into Imerys’ Bankruptcy
LOS ANGELES — It is more equitable to allow a woman dying of mesothelioma to have her day in court than to permit defendant Johnson & Johnson to transfer the case to the home court of a bankrupt talc supplier with thousands of other cases “for an efficient adjudication,” a California federal judge held May 3 in remanding the lawsuit to state court (Carolyn Weirick, et al. v. Brenntag North America, Inc., et al., No. 2:19-cv-03036, C.D. Calif., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75252).
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May 3, 2019
Parties Debate Summary Judgment In Wake Of DeVries Asbestos Opinion
TACOMA, Wash. — The need for summary judgment in a case in which a man testified that additional warnings would not have changed his conduct was not eased by recent a Supreme Court ruling rejecting the bare-metal defense in maritime settings, defendants argue in a May 2 brief. In her own May 2 brief, the plaintiff tells the court that experts will link the defendants’ products to her husband’s mesothelioma (Yaw, et al. v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., et al., No. 18-5405, W.D. Wash.).
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May 3, 2019
Navy Suppliers Urge Narrow Reading Of Bare-Metal Ruling
SEATTLE — A recent Supreme Court ruling rejecting the bare-metal defense is narrow and does not negate the government contractor defense, two Navy suppliers told a federal judge in Washington in a May 2 supplemental brief (Sherri L. Deem, et al. v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., et al., No. 17-5965, W.D. Wash.).
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May 3, 2019
Johnson & Johnson’s Bid For Speedy Relief Should Be Denied, Plaintiff Lawyers Say
WILMINGTON, Del. — Johnson & Johnson’s “emergency” request to transfer 2,400 state court talc and asbestos actions to federal court in Delaware due to the bankruptcy filing of talc supplier Imerys Talc America Inc. should be rebuffed because Johnson & Johnson created its own emergency by suddenly removing hundreds of suits before the transfer dispute was decided, attorneys representing tort claimants say in May 1 letters to the court (In re: Imerys Talc America, Inc., et al., No. 1:19-mc-00103, D. Del.).
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May 3, 2019
Bare Metal Ruling Prompts Supplemental Briefing In Federal Asbestos Case
TACOMA, Wash. — Parties to a summary judgment motion in an asbestos case must file supplemental briefing on the impact of the recent Supreme Court ruling rejecting the bare-metal defense in the maritime setting, a federal judge in Washington held April 18 (Yaw, et al. v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., et al., No. 18-5405, W.D. Wash.).
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May 2, 2019
Bowling Ball Asbestos Case Nets $4,397,716 Pericardial Mesothelioma Verdict
LOS ANGELES — A California jury on April 19 awarded $4,397,716 to a widow and two adult children for a man’s pericardial mesothelioma contracted after exposure to asbestos used in bowling balls (Barbara Vanni, et al. v. AMF Bowling Centers Inc., et al., No. BC544355, Calif. Super., Los Angeles Co.).
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May 2, 2019
Federal Judge Leaves $32.7 Million Asbestos Award Against Covil In Place
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Covil Corp. remains stuck with a $32.7 million asbestos verdict after a federal judge in North Carolina rejected its challenges to the evidence, arguments, instructions and “grossly excessive” award on May 1 (Ann Finch, et al. v. Covil Corp., No. 16-1077, M.D. N.C.).
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May 1, 2019
Market-Share Theory Against Asbestos Friction Defendant Fails
SAN FRANCISCO — Mere allegations that products are similar and that defendants enjoyed a substantial market share are not enough to sustain a market-share liability claim in an asbestos case against a friction products manufacturer, a federal judge in California held April 29 (Gary Farris, et al. v. 3M Co., et al., No. 18-4186, N.D. Calif., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72029).
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May 1, 2019
California Court Affirms Wisconsin As Proper Forum For Asbestos Suit
LOS ANGELES — A judge in Los Angeles’ specialized asbestos court properly weighed private and public factors in concluding that a Wisconsin man’s suit more properly belonged in that state, a California appeals panel held April 30 (Charlene Rickert v. American Honda Motor Co. Inc., et al., No. B289888, Calif. App., 2nd Dist.).
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April 30, 2019
Jurisdictional Defense Came Too Late In Asbestos Case, New York Justice Says
NEW YORK — A pump company’s jurisdictional defenses first raised in response to an amended asbestos complaint are untimely and were not preserved by an original reservation of other potential defenses, a New York justice held April 26 (Clarice Taylor, et al. v. A.O. Smith Water Products Co., et al., No. 190113/2015, N.Y. Sup., New York Co., 2019 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1948).
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April 30, 2019
New York Justice: Boiler Maker Can’t Escape Asbestos Action
NEW YORK — A mesothelioma sufferer’s deposition testimony regarding a boiler defendant and his work with asbestos cement on those products overcomes summary judgment, even in light of potentially contradictory evidence, a New York justice held in an opinion released April 26 (Robert Goodheart, et al. v. Amchem Products Inc., et al., No. 190353/2018, N.Y. Sup., New York Co., 2019 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1963).