Author: Asbestos Case Tracker

Pennsylvania / Summary Judgment
Posted by:

Defendants’ MSJs Granted as to Lack of Product Identification—Finds Question of Fact as to Premises Defendant

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, June 25, 2021

Plaintiff Allisa Gay brought suit against various manufacturers and distributors, alleging that her father, Carl Gay (decedent), developed mesothelioma from exposure to the defendants’ asbestos-containing products while serving in the U.S. Navy. Defendant Viking Pump, Inc. filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the plaintiff did not properly identify its product as a cause of the decedent’s disease and death.

Viking admits that it sold Viking Pumps to the U.S. Navy, and …

Continue Reading
Mesothelioma
Illinois / Summary Judgment
Posted by:

Ceramic Manufacturer’s MSJ Granted Because Plaintiff Failed to Establish Defendant’s Duty to Warn

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, June 25, 2021

Plaintiff Deborah Johnson alleges that her late husband, Bruce Johnson, contracted mesothelioma due to his exposure to asbestos. The defendant, Edward Orton, Jr. Ceramic Foundation, moved for summary judgment, which the court granted.

The plaintiff alleges that Orton was negligent for failing to warn or protect the decedent from the risk of asbestos in its product. Because the plaintiff failed to raise any questions of fact regarding the existence of a …

Continue Reading
Georgia / Pleadings Challenge
Posted by:

Appeals Court Affirms Estate Plaintiff’s Right to Refile Loss of Consortium and Wrongful Death Claims

Court of Appeals of Georgia, First Division, June 25, 2021

Alleging that he contracted malignant pleural mesothelioma due to his workplace exposure to asbestos, Charles Brannan and his wife, Louise Brannan, filed a complaint for damages against several defendants in 2015. The plaintiffs asserted claims for negligence, product liability, and loss of consortium. Later that year, Charles Brannan passed away, and one of the defendants filed a notice of suggestion of death. Two months later, his wife, Louise, was appointed as the executor of the …

Continue Reading
North Carolina / Summary Judgment
Posted by:

Molding Compound Defendant’s MSJ Denied as Federal Court Abandons Iowa’s Sole Proximate Cause Defense

U.S. District Court for Middle District of North Carolina, April 15, 2021

Plaintiff Marion Reed brings this case on behalf of his deceased wife, Barbara Reed, the decedent, who worked for a Square D manufacturing plant from 1972 to 1976, and died in 2017 from mesothelioma. Defendant Reichhold Liquidation, Inc. moved for summary judgment on all of the plaintiffs’ claims against it. Reichhold argued that the evidence established that the conduct of Square D was the sole proximate cause of the decedent’s injuries and that …

Continue Reading
Kentucky / Pleadings Challenge
Posted by:

Plaintiffs’ Motion to Sever Brake Defendant’s Third-Party Complaint Denied

U.S. District the court for the Western District of Kentucky, April 2, 2021

Plaintiff Jack Papineau and his wife sued manufacturers of products that allegedly contained asbestos following Mr. Papineau’s mesothelioma diagnosis. Remaining defendant Brake Supply sued three other manufacturers of products that Brake Supply claims are liable for some or all damages that the court may award the plaintiffs on theories of common-law indemnification and statutory apportionment. The plaintiffs, fearing that the third-party defendants will complicate and slow the plaintiffs’ case against Brake Supply, …

Continue Reading
Hand on bible, swearing in
California / Expert Challenges
Posted by:

Plaintiff Expert Opinion on “Every Exposure” Testimony Precluded under Daubert

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

Plaintiffs Thomas Toy, Jr. and Agnes Toy allege that Mr. Toy developed malignant mesothelioma and later died from exposure to asbestos-containing products or equipment that Defendants manufactured or supplied. Pending before the court are motions to strike or exclude the anticipated testimony of the plaintiffs’ causation expert Dr. Arnold Brody and motions to exclude evidence or testimony that “every exposure” to asbestos causes mesothelioma, as well as the plaintiffs’ motion to strike two defense experts.

The …

Continue Reading
California / Expert Challenges
Posted by:

Plaintiffs’ Expert Report Stricken as Improper Rebuttal

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, March 19, 2021

Plaintiffs Thomas Toy, Jr. and Agnes Toy allege that Mr. Toy developed malignant mesothelioma and later died from exposure to asbestos-containing products or equipment that the defendants manufactured or supplied. The defendants removed this action to federal court, which set forth a case schedule, including deadlines for the close of discovery and expert reports and depositions. The parties failed to comply with the court’s scheduling order, and several defendants filed a motion to …

Continue Reading
Louisiana / Remand/Removal
Posted by:

Court Finds Shipyard Defendants’ Removal Timely Based on Plaintiffs’ Supplemental Discovery Responses; Remand Denied

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, March 19, 2021

Decedent Frank Labarre worked as a tire repairman or salesman in automobile shops throughout Louisiana throughout his career. In 2016, Mr. Labarre was diagnosed with a “probable asbestos-related lung condition,” and he passed away in 2018. The plaintiff alleged that by performing brake jobs and by performing work at various premises, including those of Avondale, he was regularly exposed to asbestos-containing brake products. Avondale was a customer of the decedent for over four …

Continue Reading
FELA / Summary Judgment / Washington
Posted by:

Railway Defendant’s MSJ Denied on Statute of Limitations Defense Due to Decedent’s Constructive Knowledge Relating Workplace Exposures to Cancer

Decedent Gene Sponcler worked for over 40 years for defendant BNSF Railway Company and its predecessor in interest as a laborer, brakeman, and conductor. The decedent was diagnosed with kidney cancer in late 2010 (the exact date is disputed by the parties) and passed away on January 25, 2016. The decedent’s wife filed this action on January 24, 2019, one day short of three years after the decedent’s passing.

BNSF seeks summary judgment and contends that the plaintiff’s claims brought under the Federal Employers’ Liability …

Continue Reading
Maritime/Admiralty Law / Summary Judgment / Washington
Posted by:

Shipyard Defendant’s MSJ Granted as Plaintiffs Failed to Establish the Amount and Duration of Decedent’s Exposure

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, March 4, 2021

Defendant Puget Sound Commerce Center, Inc. formerly known as Todd Shipyards Corporation filed an amended motion for summary judgment/partial summary judgment. The plaintiffs allege the decedent John Dale Wineland worked at Todd Shipyards in 1974, where he was negligently exposed to asbestos, including asbestos-containing insulation supplied by Todd Shipyards, and that this exposure caused the decedent’s mesothelioma and death. Todd Shipyards seeks dismissal of both the negligence and strict liability claims asserted against …

Continue Reading