PENNSYLVANIA — The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit submitted a Petition for Certification of Question Law on the following issues for consideration: (1) Whether, under Pennsylvania law, a manufacturer as a duty to warn about the hazards of asbestos relating to component parts it has neither manufactured or supplied and (2) if such a duty exists, what is the appropriate legal test to determine liability.
On October 26, 2017, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed to consider these issues and instructed parties to submit briefs and prepare for oral argument. This appeal stems the Rabovsky decision, which was subject to a prior ACT post on September 28, 2016. Here, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania rejected defendant’s argument that a manufacturer cannot be held liable for asbestos-containing component parts.
ACT will continue to monitor this issue and provide an update accordingly.