Micarta Manufacturer’s Motion for Summary Judgment against third-party plaintiff Avondale denied

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, September 6, 2022

Plaintiff Ora Adams alleges that her husband, Lional Adams, was exposed to asbestos at defendant, Avondale’s, New Orleans area shipyards in the 1970s while Mr. Adams was employed as a pipefitter and welder. She contends that this work resulted in asbestos dust on his clothing, which Mr. Adams wore home and Ms. Adams would shake out before washing. Ms. Adams alleges that this exposure caused her lung cancer and filed suit against …

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Intentional Tort and Fraud/Concealment Counts Dismissed for Several Defendants Court

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana , August 24, 2022

The Asbestos Case Tracker continues to cover the Becnel matter, in which the plaintiffs allege James Becnel was exposed to asbestos at the Avondale Shipyards in 1965.   

For purposes of these motions, the plaintiff alleged intentional tort and fraud/concealment counts against the defendants. Recently, several defendants filed for partial summary judgment on these counts the court granted.  

With regard to the intentional tort claim, the plaintiff argued that a …

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Summary Judgment Granted for Insurer Where Plaintiff Failed to Establish Injury Occurred in Policy Period

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, August 3, 2022

Originally filed by Decedent prior to his passing related to mesothelioma, Plaintiffs were substituted as the parties in a wrongful death claim brought against Travelers Indemnity Co. (“Travelers”), among other defendants, under Louisiana’s direct actions statute, La. R.S. § 22:1269. Decedent was a vessel inspector for American Bureau of Shipping (“ABS”) who inspected vessels to determine if they met classification requirements at various shipyards from 1970 to 2006. Defendants removed the action pursuant to federal officer …

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Partial Summary Judgment Granted to Insurer Under Professional Vendor Analysis

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, July 28, 2022

As previously reported in the Asbestos Case Tracker, decedent Callen Cortez alleged direct occupational exposure to asbestos, as well as take-home exposure from his father’s and brother’s work. As pertinent to this motion, the decedent’s father was an insulator for B&B Engineering and Supply Company from 1966 until 1968. The insurer of B&B moved for summary judgment on four grounds.

The insurer first argued that it had no duty of care to …

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Multiple Defendants Successful on Motions for Summary Judgment on Plaintiffs’ Intentional Tort and Fraud Claims

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, July 25, 2022

As previously reported on the Asbestos Case Tracker, this matter stems from decedent Callan Cortez’s take-home exposure to asbestos, from his brother, Daniel, who lived with the decedent while he worked at Avondale Shipyards in 1967-68. Most recently, defendants ViacomCBS Inc. (Westinghouse), General Electric Company, and Foster Wheeler, LLC filed motions for partial summary judgment, seeking to dismiss the plaintiffs’ intentional-tort and fraud claims.

Summary judgment is warranted when “the movant shows that …

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Plaintiff’s Expert precluded from offering testimony on whether Supplier can be Considered a Manufacturer

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, July 20, 2022

In this asbestos action, decedent Callen Cortez was diagnosed with mesothelioma following occupational and take-home exposure to asbestos. As relevant to the motion, plaintiff’s complaint alleged that former suppliers and distributors Eagle and McCarty were liable as manufacturers as a “professional vendor,” as they “would package [asbestos-containing] products from other distributors and manufacturers . . . in their own boxes and packaging, and hold out the products as their own.” Defendants moved …

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Mesothelioma

Plaintiffs’ Motion to Exclude Defense Expert’s Hearsay Statements Granted

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana; July 18, 2022

Plaintiffs filed an asbestos-related lawsuit on behalf of Decedent, Callan Cortez, alleging that Mr. Cortez contracted mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos, and subsequently died. The relevant exposure claimed by Mr. Cortez was take-home exposure from his brother, Daniel, who lived with Mr. Cortez while he worked at Avondale Shipyards from 1967 until 1968.

Danny Joyce, an Avondale industrial hygienist and corporate witness, gave deposition testimony about conversations he had …

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Turbine Defendant Not Liable For Failure to Warn as to Third-Party Insulation

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, July 8, 2022

In this asbestos matter, the defendant ViacomCBS Inc. (“Westinghouse”) moved for partial summary judgment as to Decedent Callen Cortez’s claims arising from alleged exposure to asbestos from Westinghouse’s turbines, arguing that the plaintiffs could not establish that Decedent was exposed to a Westinghouse turbine at the Monsanto plant at which he worked, that his exposures were not substantial factors in causing his mesothelioma, and that Westinghouse was not liable for any of …

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Plaintiffs’ State Law Tort Claims against Employer and Insurers Preempted by LHWCA

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, June 16, 2022

In this asbestos matter, the plaintiffs allege that James Becnel was exposed to asbestos at the Avondale Shipyards in 1965. Recently, several defendants filed summary judgment motions to dismiss the plaintiffs’ state law tort claims, including Becnel’s employer and its insurers. The defendants alleged that the plaintiffs’ state law tort claims were preempted by the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA). Ultimately, the court agreed as “the LHWCA preempts a plaintiff’s occupational …

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Court Dismisses Plaintiffs’ International Tort Claim Against Outside Contractor; Finds Issues of Fact For Jury on Outside Contractor’s Alter Ego Liability

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, June 8, 2022

In April 2022, Hopeman filed the instant motion for partial summary judgment arguing that the plaintiffs’ intentional tort claim must be dismissed because they cannot provide evidentiary support that it consciously desired to afflict the decedent with primary lung cancer or knew that his cancer was substantially certain to follow from its actions. The plaintiffs opposed, arguing that Hopeman knew of the hazards of asbestos and that the decedent’s disease was substantially …

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