Author: Asbestos Case Tracker

New York / Summary Judgment
Posted by:

Speculative Testimony Fails to Establish Railroad Defendant Directed Tile Work

Supreme Court of New York, New York County, January 10, 2022

In this asbestos action, the plaintiff Ernest Cummings alleges that his lung cancer was caused by his exposure to asbestos dust when he worked as a train conductor with the Long Island Railroad from 1971 to 1996. During this time, he made stops at Penn Station, of which the defendant Amtrak took ownership in 1976. The plaintiff testified that during his more than two-decade career, all of his train routes went through Penn Station …

Continue Reading
New York / Personal Jurisdiction
Posted by:

Court Grants Jurisdictional Discovery from Foreign Defendant Following Personal Jurisdiction Motion

Supreme Court of New York, New York County, December 27, 2022

In the matter of Pira v. Air & Liquid Sys. Corp., defendant Steel Grip, Inc., filed a motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s case for lack of personal jurisdiction. With regard to specific jurisdiction, the defendant argued that it did not sell, distribute, or manufacture any products in the state of New York, and that all of the plaintiff’s alleged exposure to asbestos occurred on Italian cruise ships. With regard to general jurisdiction, the …

Continue Reading
Documents and Resources
Posted by:

Asbestos Case Tracker 2021 Compendium

Goldberg Segalla’s Asbestos Case Tracker blog is the trusted resource for asbestos decisions happening in courts throughout the United States.

Ranked on the 2018 ABA Journal Web 100 for top legal resources, our blog reports on legislative updates, significant decisions, and other critical developments in the asbestos industry. Our team draws on experience litigating thousands of cases over the last 30 years, providing summaries and access to decisions, insightful commentary, in-depth feature articles,
links to valuable resources, and much more.

We are pleased to provide …

Continue Reading
Louisiana / Summary Judgment
Posted by:

Employer’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment under Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Act is Denied

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, December 20, 2021

The plaintiff filed suit alleging that he was diagnosed with mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos spanning from the 1950s to 1980s, including take-home exposure from his father’s and brother’s work at Avondale Shipyards, personal exposure from his own work at Avondale from 1969 to 1972, and person exposure from his work for the defendant, Pelnor, from 1974 to 1983.

Pelnor filed a motion for partial summary judgment arguing that the …

Continue Reading
New York
Posted by:

Denial of Summary Judgment to Flooring Defendants Affirmed on Motions to Reargue

Supreme Court of New York, New York County, December 6, 2021

Defendants American Biltrite and Mannington Mills moved to reargue their motions for summary judgment, arguing that the court overlooked and misapprehended facts in denying the same. On the motions to reargue, the court first found that both defendants failed to establish that the court misapprehended or overlooked the facts or law when it found that issues of fact existed to preclude summary judgment.

The defendants argued that the court mistakenly relied upon the report …

Continue Reading
New York / Personal Jurisdiction
Posted by:

Plaintiffs Granted Jurisdictional Discovery from Valve Manufacturer Following Personal Jurisdiction Motion

Supreme Court of New York, New York County, December 2, 2021

The defendant, Jenkins Bros, moved to dismiss the plaintiffs’ complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction. Specifically, Jenkins argued that it is not incorporated in New York, does not have its headquarters in New York, and does not maintain its principal place of business in New York. The plaintiff opposed the motion, and filed a cross-motion seeking jurisdictional discovery.

The plaintiff argued that the deposition transcript of Jenkins’ corporate representative, David Boisvert, demonstrated that Jenkins …

Continue Reading
General
Posted by:

Forty Years Later: How a Prediction Made By Epidemiologists in 1982 Holds Up in 2022

In 1982, epidemiologists predicted that the incidence of asbestos-related malignant diseases would begin to decline by the late 2000s. Forty years later, with 2022 beginning in less than a month, the question is: were they right?

Asbestos was widely used in industrial and other work and residential settings through the early 1970s. Asbestos consumption in the United States peaked in 1973 and then dropped dramatically during the next three decades. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, the number of asbestos claims exploded, …

Continue Reading
Appeal / California
Posted by:

Jury Verdict Overturned: “Mere Possibility” of Exposure to a Product Insufficient to Meet Plaintiff’s Burden

Court of Appeal of California, First Appellate District, Division One, November 30, 2021

The plaintiff, Amos Webb, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2018, and filed suit againstnumerous defendants, including General Cable Corporation, alleging that he was exposed to asbestos while working as an electrician for various employers throughout his career. Specifically, during his discovery deposition, Mr. Webb testified that he worked “quite frequently” with a product known as “Romex wire.” Romex was a popular brand of cable used for interior wiring, and General Cable acquired …

Continue Reading
Expert Challenges / Illinois
Posted by:

Plaintiff’s Expert Opinions on Causation, Historical Literature, and “Cumulative Exposure Theory” Precluded

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, November 23, 2021

The plaintiff alleged that her late husband, Bruce Johnson, was exposed to asbestos between 1971 and 1984 while working with ceramics for different companies and schools. Mr. Johnson was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2017 and died in 2020. The plaintiff filed suit against Vanderbilt, inter alia, alleging that Vanderbilt was liable under a negligent products liability theory for manufacturing, distributing, or selling asbestos-containing products used in the production of ceramics. …

Continue Reading
Remand/Removal
Posted by:

Removal to Federal Court Timely as a Lack of Specificity in Plaintiff’s Complaint Failed to Trigger 30-Day Deadline

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, November 23, 2021

The plaintiff was an employee of Huntington Ingalls, Inc., intermittently from 1972 to 1975, running a cherry picker at Avondale shipyards. He alleged that he was exposed to asbestos dust through this employment and was later diagnosed with mesothelioma.

On July 16, 2021, the plaintiff filed suit in the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, Louisiana, and on October 26, 2021, the defendants removed the case to federal court pursuant to …

Continue Reading