Author: Asbestos Case Tracker

Case Decisions / Pleadings Challenge / Wisconsin
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Community Exposure Claims by Former Employees Not Barred by Wisconsin Workers’ Compensation Act

WISCONSIN — Two deceased Weyerhauser employees brought claims against their former employer for common law negligence, negligent nuisance, and intentional nuisance. In an effort to avoid the exclusivity provisions of Wisconsin’s Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA), both plaintiffs alleged that the defendant Weyerhauser’s activities exposed them to asbestos in the community, not during the course of their employment with the defendant, causing their mesothelioma. Weyerhauser challenged the pleadings on several bases, and the court granted and denied their motion in part.

The court denied Weyerhauser’s motion …

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Case Decisions / Pleadings Challenge / Wisconsin
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Plaintiff Survives Motion to Dismiss Upon Adding Additional Allegations in Amended Complaint

WISCONSIN — The plaintiff filed suit against Weyerhauser and its insurer for alleged emissions of asbestos into the Marshfield, Wisconsin community. Plaintiff Michael Kappel moved to add additional allegations to his complaint. Weyerhauser moved to dismiss. The plaintiffs were substituted upon Mr. Kappel’s passing.

Weyerhauser sought dismissal on two separate grounds. First, the defendant argued the plaintiffs did not allege Mr. Kappel’s exposure from work at Weyerhauser in an effort to circumvent the exclusivity rules in the local worker’s compensation statute. The court disagreed as …

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California / Case Decisions / Summary Judgment
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Summary Judgment Granted and Request for Continuance Denied Based Upon Lack of Evidence

CALIFORNIA — Defendant, Rohr, Inc., filed a motion for summary judgment based upon a lack of evidence demonstrating the plaintiff was exposed to a Rohr product. The plaintiffs opposed the motion, but failed to present any such evidence in support of their opposition. The plaintiffs also filed a motion to continue, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(d), for additional time to conduct discovery. To succeed on such a motion, the moving party must show: 1) an affidavit setting forth the specific facts to …

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Case Decisions / Remand/Removal / South Carolina
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Case Remanded Based Upon Lack of Fraudulent Joinder

SOUTH CAROLINA — The plaintiff filed a lawsuit in the Court of Common Pleas for Darlington County, South Carolina, alleging that Bertila Boyd-Bostic suffered from mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure in the 1980s. On March 2, 2018, a Third Amended Complaint was filed, alleging that Johnson & Johnson, Imerys Talc America, Rite Aid of South Carolina and others were liable for Ms. Boyd-Bostic’s mesothelioma, based upon her use of baby powder. The recently-joined defendants removed the case on April 6, 2018.

The plaintiff filed an …

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Case Decisions / Federal Officer Jurisdiction / Louisiana / Remand/Removal
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Cases Remanded After Court Determines Defendant Shipbuilder Controlled Safety Procedures

LOUISIANA — The Eastern District of Louisiana granted motions to remand in two separate mesothelioma cases arising out of alleged exposure to asbestos through work for defendant Avondale Industries, Inc., a shipbuilder for the United States Navy. Each plaintiff originally filed their actions in state court, alleging that Avondale failed to warn of the hazards of asbestos and failed to implement proper safety procedures for the handling of asbestos. Avondale removed the matter to federal court on federal officer jurisdiction.

In remanding, the court focused …

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Other Asbestos News
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$80 Million Punitive Award in Asbestos-Talc Case

NEW JERSEY — Following up on a prior ACT post  regarding a compensatory damages verdict of $37 million dollars against Johnson & Johnson and Imerys Talc America, Inc., the same New Jersey jury awarded a total of $80 million in punitive damages. This case involved allegations that plaintiff Stephen Lanzo developed mesothelioma after years of use of talcum powder that plaintiff claimed was contaminated with asbestos.  Of the total punitive damages sum, $55 million was awarded against Johnson & Johnson and $25 million against Imerys. …

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Bare Metal/Component Parts / Case Decisions / Delaware / Maritime/Admiralty Law
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Motion for Reconsideration Based Upon Change in Law Denied as Untimely

DELAWARE — Plaintiffs Icom and Johanna Evans filed a lawsuit on June 11, 2015 in Delaware Superior Court relating to Mr. Evans’ alleged asbestos exposure. Foster Wheeler removed the matter to federal court on August 4, 2015, pursuant to the federal officer removal statute. Defendants Foster Wheeler and Warren Pumps filed motions for summary judgment in October 2016. Both motions were opposed. The district court issued a Report and Recommendation (R&R) on August 30, 2017, recommending that the motions be granted pursuant to maritime law, …

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Other Asbestos News
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New Jersey Jury Awards $37 Million Compensatory Damage Verdict in Asbestos-Talc Case

NEW JERSEY — On April 5, 2018, a Middlesex County, New Jersey jury awarded $37 million in compensatory damages to Plaintiff Stephen Lanzo III and his wife, Kendra, in a mesothelioma case. The plaintiffs alleged that Lanzo developed mesothelioma from his decades-long exposure to asbestos-containing talcum powder sold by Johnson & Johnson and supplied by Imerys Talc America, Inc.  The jury awarded $30 million to Lanzo and $7 million to his wife.

The jury will return on April 10, 2018, to consider the plaintiffs’ claims …

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Case Decisions / Maritime/Admiralty Law / Massachusetts / Statute of Repose / Summary Judgment
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Federal Court Denies Summary Judgment Under Massachusetts Statute of Repose, But Grants Defendants’ Motions on Other Grounds

MASSACHUSETTS — The plaintiffs allege that the decedent, Wayne Oliver, developed mesothelioma from bystander exposure to asbestos during his work as a pipe inspector on the construction of two power plants in the 1970s. Defendant General Electric Company (GE) specified and produced steam turbine-generators for the power plants, and supervised their installation. Defendant NSTAR, formerly known as Boston Edison Company (NSTAR/BECO), owned one of the power plants during the time of the decedent’s work. The decedent worked for non-party Bechtel Corporation, who acted as the …

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Other Asbestos News
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Legislation Introduced in Pennsylvania to Abolish Lawsuits Against Employers for Asbestos-Related Diseases

PENNSYLVANIA — Republican Pennsylvania State Representative Eli Evankovich introduced a bill on April 2, 2018 to eliminate the ability of employees to sue their employers for asbestos-related diseases. Prior to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s issuance of the Tooey decision in November 2013, Pennsylvania employees were barred from filing suit against their employers due to the exclusivity provision of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation. Those employees could file a workers’ compensation claim if diagnosed within 300 weeks of their last date of exposure, but due to the …

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