In the 1970s, the plaintiff’s decedent, Dave John Konstantin, worked as a carpenter at two Manhattan construction sites where defendant Tishman Liquidating Corporation (TLC) was the general contractor. The decedent died of mesothelioma in 2012. This case was assigned with nine other cases to an in extremis trial calendar; all 10 plaintiffs were represented by the same firm and requested a joint trial, which the defendants opposed. Seven of the 10 cases (all with mesothelioma) were ordered to be tried together, and the remaining three …
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Summary Judgment Reversed Where Court Finds Genuine Dispute as to Fraudulent Transfer of Assets
The plaintiff filed this personal injury lawsuit under theories of negligence and strict liability following the death of her husband from mesothelioma. The plaintiff maintained that her husband was exposed to asbestos-containing products allegedly manufactured and/or sold by Fire Brick Engineers Company, Inc. (FBE Company) from approximately 1963-69. In approximately 1983, Fire Brick Engineers Corporation (FBE Corporation), whose investors included attorneys who had previously represented FBE Company, purchased the assets of FBE Company and eventually changed its name to Fire Brick Engineers Company, Inc. In …
Continue ReadingPreclusion of Plaintiff’s Causation Expert Upheld on Appeal Due to Failure to Consider Decedent’s Smoking History
The plaintiffs, Dwayne Bourdeaux, Gerilyn Cook, and Bryan Bourdeaux, Individually and as Proper Parties in Interest for Gerald Bourdeaux, filed suit in Louisiana alleging that Gerald Bourdeaux lung cancer diagnosis and eventual death was asbestos exposure. In support of this claim, the plaintiffs offered Dr. Gerald E. Liuzza, a pathologist, as an expert witness to establish the causative link between the asbestos exposure and lung cancer.
Defendant Trinity Industries, Inc. filed a motion in limine to preclude Dr. Liuzza from testifying at trial on the …
Continue ReadingFederal Court Limits Plaintiff’s Expert, Dr. William Longo’s, Testimony
The plaintiff, Marsha K. Dugas, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Darryl S. Dugas, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division, alleging that Darryl Dugas developed mesothelioma from his exposure to asbestos during the late 1960s and early 1970s, while serving in the U.S. Navy and attributing that exposure to several products allegedly manufactured by various defendants. In support of this claim, the plaintiff retained Dr. William Longo to provide an expert opinion as to the …
Continue ReadingDistinction Between Physical Harm and Physical Injury Key in Reversal of Trial Court’s Denial of Directed Verdict
The plaintiffs sued defendant Tremco, Inc. alleging asbestos exposure from tape used in the plaintiff’s profession as a plasterer. The plaintiffs alleged the development of pleural plaques and interstitial fibrosis. The jury found in favor of the plaintiffs, and Tremco appealed. The appellate court reversed the trial court’s judgment, finding that the court should have granted Tremco’s motion for directed verdict because the plaintiff did not suffer any physical harm.
At trial plaintiff testified that he worked as a plasterer from 1957-1983, and used Tremco …
Continue Reading$6.25 million Jury Verdict In NYCAL Case Against Boiler Manufacturers
On June 13, 2016 a NYCAL jury awarded plaintiff $6.25 million for the death of the decedent, Vincent Geritano, who had been diagnosed with mesothelioma. The only defendants remaining at trial were Burnham and Crown Boiler Co. The jury found Burnham liable, but not Crown. Burnham was assessed 9 percent liability, with several other entities sharing the remainder of the liability.
Continue ReadingNinth Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment for Pump Defendants on Evidence of Supply of Asbestos Containing Gaskets and Packing to U.S. Navy
John H. Boyd, III, as the representative of the plaintiff and appellant Captain John H. Boyd, Jr. (deceased), appealed to the Ninth Circuit the District Court for the Central District of California’s granting of summary judgment in favor of Warren Pumps, LLC, and Air and Liquid Systems Corporation (successor in interest to Buffalo Pumps, Inc.) in this diversity products liability action. In this case, it was alleged that exposure to asbestos from the appellees’ products during Captain Boyd’s service on board the U.S. Navy’s USS …
Continue ReadingPennsylvania Federal Court Denies Defendant’s Motion to Mold Verdict and Grants Plaintiff’s Motion to Apply Delay Damages to Compensatory Damages
The plaintiff-decedent, Valent Rabovsky, and his wife Ann Rabovsky filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, claiming that the plaintiff-decedent, who had worked as a millwright in the 1950s, developed malignant mesothelioma from work-related exposure to asbestos and asbestos containing products, which were produced, manufactured, and/or distributed by various defendants (Case was removed to Federal Court three months later).
On February 2, 2016, a jury trial was held on the issue of whether defendant Crane Co. was negligent in failing to warn …
Continue ReadingMagistrate Judge Recommends Remand to State Court; Removal was Timely, but Defendant Failed to Establish Two of Four Elements of Federal Officer Statute
The plaintiffs filed this personal injury suit in Delaware after the plaintiff Donnie Wines was diagnosed with mesothelioma. Both plaintiffs died before the suit was completed, and their personal representative was substituted. Defendant Rockwell Automation Inc. removed to federal court. The plaintiff filed a motion to remand, arguing: (1) that the notice of removal was untimely, and (2) Rockwell did not meet the requirements of the federal officer removal statute. The magistrate judge recommended that the court grant the plaintiff’s motion.
The plaintiff claimed exposure …
Continue ReadingCourt Declines to Address Causation Standard In Upholding Summary Judgment on Trial Court’s Less Burdensome Standard
Plaintiff Patricia Grant and the Estate of Edward Grant appealed from summary judgments entered against them on their complaint for damages for Edward Grant’s lung cancer and death based on negligence, failure to warn of defective, unreasonably dangerous goods, and loss of consortium. Summary judgment was granted on the motions of New England Insulation Company (NEI); Foster Wheeler, LLC; Warren Pumps, LLC; and IMO Industries, Inc. The plaintiff’s decedent Edward Grant worked for Beth Iron Works from 1964 to 1970 and again from 1978 to …
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