Mealey's Asbestos Bankruptcy
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September 07, 2023
1960s Asbestos Exposure Claims Discharged By 1983 Bankruptcy, Judge Says
AUSTIN, Texas — While the destruction of court records complicates the matter, a 2016 mesothelioma lawsuit alleging exposure to asbestos in the 1960s constitutes a pre-petition claim discharged in the former employer’s 1983 bankruptcy, a federal judge in Texas said in affirming a bankruptcy court ruling.
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September 05, 2023
Asbestos Talc Debtor Settles Truck Driver’s Personal Injury Suit
WILMINGTON, Del. — An affiliate codebtor of talc mining company Cyprus Mines Corp. and talc supplier Imerys Talc America Inc. has settled a personal injury action brought by a truck driver in Vermont for $85,000, according to a motion for approval of the deal that the debtors filed in Delaware federal bankruptcy court.
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August 30, 2023
3M, Aearo, Settle Combat Arms Litigation For $6 Billion
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Aearo Technologies LLC parent company 3M Occupational Safety LLC reached a $6 billion settlement resolving Combat Arms earplugs litigation, resolving the largest multidistrict litigation in U.S. history and relieving the entities of tort claims at the heart of a bankruptcy that was dismissed based on the logic of a similar ruling in the asbestos talc bankruptcy case of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff LTL Management LLC, the companies announced in an Aug. 29 press release.
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August 29, 2023
Delaware High Court Says Cognizable Injury Must Manifest In Physical Illness
WILMINGTON, Del. — The Delaware Supreme Court has ruled that with regard to a chemical injury lawsuit, the increased risk of harm constitutes a cognizable injury only when manifested by physical illness.
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August 25, 2023
Asbestos Bankruptcy Tort Claims Untimely, Pennsylvania Court Says
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Three plaintiffs’ lawsuits against an asbestos trust filed four years after they received letters allowing such tort actions are barred by the two-year statute of limitations, the Pennsylvania Superior Court said.
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August 24, 2023
Judge Orders Claimants To Give Names, Comply With CertainTeed Debtor’s Subpoena
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Thousands of people who settled mesothelioma claims with CertainTeed Corp. or its spinoff debtor DBMP LLC must identify themselves and comply with the debtor’s subpoena seeking information they submitted to asbestos trusts because they did not show that there are “exceptional circumstances” allowing them to proceed anonymously, a North Carolina federal judge held in affirming a bankruptcy judge’s decision.
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August 23, 2023
Dismissal Motion Ordered For J&J Former Debtor’s Suit Over Asbestos Talc Study
TRENTON, N.J. — The author of an asbestos talc study who is accused of fraud by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff LTL Management LLC must file her proposed motion to dismiss the case by Sept. 8, according to a docket entry by a New Jersey federal judge, who also rejected a pre-motion conference.
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August 22, 2023
Judge Denies Motions Seeking To Upend $9.7M Asbestos Verdict
MILWAUKEE — A judge in Milwaukee denied post-trial motions seeking to undo a $9.7 million asbestos verdict, and the defendant indicated that it would move for reconsideration of a third ruling imposing sanctions.
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August 18, 2023
Amici Say Potential Fraud Warrants Unsealing Lawyer’s Complaint
LOS ANGELES — A bankrupt asbestos defendant and an industry group, acting as amici curiae, tell a California court that the possibility that an asbestos attorney’s lawsuit against his former employer could reveal ongoing fraud and misconduct warrants unsealing the unredacted version of his complaint.
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August 18, 2023
Illinois Wrongful Death Statute Expanded To Permit Punitive Damages
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois will immediately begin permitting punitive damages in wrongful death actions after the state’s governor signed legislation amending the state’s wrongful death act.
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August 18, 2023
Expert Will Help Advance Asbestos Coverage Suit, Nash Chapter 7 Trustee Says
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Once the Chapter 7 trustee for debtor The Nash Engineering Co. hires an expert to analyze the company’s insurance coverage for asbestos claims, he will seek to have the automatic stay lifted so certain insurers can continue to prosecute their declaratory judgment coverage action, the trustee says in a status report filed in Connecticut federal court.
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August 18, 2023
Receiver, Claimants Appeal Rejection Of Dismissal For Talc Supplier’s Chapter 11
TRENTON, N.J. — The receiver for defunct talc supplier Whittaker, Clark & Daniels Inc. (WCD) and the Official Committee of Talc Claimants in the company’s Chapter 11 case appealed a New Jersey federal bankruptcy court’s denial of their motions to dismiss the case to federal court after their request for a direct appeal to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was turned down by the bankruptcy court.
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August 17, 2023
No Evidence Of Bankruptcy Trust Shenanigans, Judge Says
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — While a railroad claims that plaintiffs are intentionally delaying submissions to the W.R. Grace & Co. bankruptcy trust, the evidence shows that resolution of those types of claims can take upward of 20 years, a federal judge in Montana said in declining to stay the case and finding that a railroad could not attempt to pin liability on W.R. Grace, settled defendants or the state of Montana under state law.
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August 17, 2023
Judge: Supreme Court Ruling On Jurisdiction Can’t Keep Talc Case In California
LOS ANGELES — A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling finding Pennsylvania’s business registration statute sufficient for jurisdiction does not assist California asbestos plaintiffs because the state lacks a similar statute, a Los Angeles County judge said in granting three defendants’ motion to quash service of summons.
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August 16, 2023
Plan Confirmation Hearing Scheduled For Hess Unit HONX
HOUSTON — The parties in the Chapter 11 case of Hess Corp. affiliate HONX Inc. have agreed to a schedule that culminates with a trial on Oct. 10 to confirm the debtor’s plan of reorganization after the plan’s disclosure statement was approved by a Texas federal bankruptcy judge.
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August 16, 2023
Bankruptcy Dismissal Lifts Stay Of Asbestos-Talc Appeal, J&J Admits
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Dismissal of the LTL Management LLC bankruptcy and its automatic stay provision means a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals case involving allegations that two talc companies violated the California unfair competition law (UCL) by advertising their products as pure despite knowing that they were contaminated with asbestos may proceed, LTL Management said in an Aug. 15 status update.
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August 14, 2023
With Punitive Damages Pending, Parties Settle $20M Asbestos-Talc Case
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — After the parties filed briefs on the appropriateness of punitive damages in the wake of a $20 million asbestos-talc verdict, one of the defendants told a Connecticut judge on Aug. 11 that the parties had resolved the case, mooting pending post-trial motions.
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August 11, 2023
Asbestos Referral Fee Ruling Sends ‘Embarrassment’ Of Case Back To 4th Circuit
BALTIMORE — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals will once again confront a case a judge on the court previously described as “an embarrassment to the legal profession,” after lawyers and law firms hit with more than $1 million in fees and costs for “never once” complying with court-ordered discovery in a dispute over asbestos case referrals filed a notice of appeal on Aug. 10.
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August 10, 2023
4th Circuit Denies Full Rehearing Of Georgia-Pacific Debtor Injunction Appeal
RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals turned down requests by the Official Committee of Asbestos Claimants and the future claimants’ representative (FCR) in the Chapter 11 case of Georgia-Pacific (GP) spinoff Bestwall LLC for the full court to rehear a divided decision affirming injunctive relief for the bankruptcy parties.
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August 10, 2023
Asbestos Screener At Heart Of Libby, Mont., False Claims Verdict Files Bankruptcy
MISSOULA, Mont. — The Libby, Mont., asbestos disease screener hit with $5.8 million in damages and penalties for filing false claims under a special Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) program created under Medicare has declared bankruptcy.
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August 04, 2023
Asbestos Firm’s Bid To Disqualify FCR In J&J Case Rejected By Bankruptcy Judge
TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge denied a request by an asbestos law firm to disqualify the future claimants’ representative (FCR) in the Chapter 11 case of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff LTL Management LLC based on a photo of her having dinner with representatives of J&J, the debtor and asbestos claimants, saying the motion “lacks any legal or factual basis.”
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August 03, 2023
8th Circuit Affirms Exclusion Of Experts, Summary Judgment In FELA Asbestos Case
ST. LOUIS — Even assuming that the record allowed for the conclusion that a man was exposed to asbestos and other toxins at a railway, there is nothing establishing the level of exposure, and a court properly excluded expert testimony based on the belief that there was sufficient evidence of such exposure, an Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said Aug. 2 in affirming summary judgment to a railway company.
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August 02, 2023
Bankruptcy Movement Disclosure A Must, Asbestos Securities Plaintiffs Say On Appeal
NEW YORK — Having made representations to investors about the “smooth sailing” resulting from its liquidity and financial flexibility, the law obligated an automotive company spun off by Honeywell Inc. and burdened with its asbestos liabilities to disclose the active steps it was taking toward bankruptcy, investors told the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an Aug. 1 opening brief.
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August 02, 2023
Asbestos Defendant Says Recent Authority Supports Causation Specificity Argument
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Recent out-of-state rulings support the conclusion that the presence of visible dust does not satisfy the causation standard in Connecticut, which instead requires specificity regarding the dose of asbestos, a defendant told a state court judge in a statement of supplemental authority in support of a motion to set aside a verdict.
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July 31, 2023
Johnson & Johnson Debtor’s Bankruptcy Case Booted Again As Bad Faith Filing
TRENTON, N.J. — The Chapter 11 case of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) spinoff LTL Management LLC was dismissed for the second time on July 28, with a New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge finding that the debtor failed to show that it was in “imminent” or “immediate” financial distress as required by the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals when it dismissed the first case for being filed in bad faith.