Category: Other Asbestos News

Kansas / Other Asbestos News
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Interlocutory Appeal Citing Federal Safety Appliance Act Denied

KANSAS — The plaintiff Nancy Little filed suit individually and as the personal representative of the estate of her father, Robert Rabe, against the defendant The Budd Company (Budd). The plaintiff alleges that her father was exposed to asbestos-containing pipe insulation that Budd placed in passenger railcars it manufactured; this exposure allegedly caused Mr. Rabe’s mesothelioma.

Defendant Budd asserted several defenses, including that the Federal Safety Appliance Act (SAA) preempts plaintiff’s state law claims.  Budd twice moved the court to dismiss plaintiff’s claims based on …

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Louisiana / Other Asbestos News
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Welding Contractor Must Indemnify Premises Owner for Exposures to its Own Employee

LOUISIANA — Wayne Bourgeois worked as a welder from 1989 to 1994 at Chevron Chemical (Chevron) in Belle Chasse, Louisiana. His employer was J.E. Merit, a predecessor to Defendant Jacobs Field Services North America, Inc. (Jacobs). As part of their contract to provide maintenance for the Chevron plant, including welders, Jacobs agreed to indemnify Chevron against loss, damage, injury or death connected with their work under the contract. Bourgeois developed mesothelioma and sued Chevron, who tendered the defense to Jacobs who declined to defend. Chevron …

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New Jersey / Other Asbestos News / Verdict
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Johnson & Johnson Secures Defense Verdict in Asbestos Talc Case

NEW JERSEY — Today, a central New Jersey jury determined that Johnson & Johnson (J&J) was not liable for the mesothelioma of the plaintiff Rosalind Henry, who alleged that she developed the disease in part from use of J&J’s baby powder. In closing arguments, counsel for J&J told jurors that Ms. Henry had told her doctors that she was exposed to asbestos while working for a company that serviced Naval vessels, and that Ms. Henry only used J&J’s talc product for a small number of …

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New York / Other Asbestos News
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Jury Finds Tile Manufacturer Failed to Provide Adequate Warnings, But The Failure Was Not A Substantial Contributing Factor To Plaintiff’s Mesothelioma Diagnosis

NEW YORK — A Monroe County jury returned a verdict in favor of Defendant American Biltrite in a mesothelioma case Thursday, September 28, 2018. The Jury found that American Biltrite failed to exercise reasonable care by not providing an adequate warning about the hazards of exposure to asbestos with respect to the use of Amtico vinyl asbestos tile.  However, the jury subsequently found that American Biltrite’s failure to warn Jo Ann Shields was not a substantial contributing factor in causing her peritoneal mesothelioma.

This is …

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Ohio / Other Asbestos News
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Ohio Defendants Can Force Plaintiffs to Prove That Asbestos Was a Substantial Factor in Lung Cancer With Sufficient Proof of Smoking

OHIO — The Plaintiff Bobby Turner, an occasional cigar smoker, alleged that he developed lung cancer as a result of exposure to asbestos from his work as a drywall finisher between 1962 and 1978. At the outset of his case, Turner did not submit a report per RC 2307.92(c)(1).that showed “diagnosis by a competent medical authority that [he] has primary lung cancer and that exposure to asbestos is a substantial contributing factor to that cancer.” Essentially, Turner took the position that he was not a …

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Maryland / Other Asbestos News
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Insulation Installer’s Hourly Timesheets Found Legally Sufficient to Support Rational Inference of Causation in Bystander Matter

MARYLAND — The plaintiff William Busch and his wife, Kathleen, filed suit against multiple defendants, alleging that exposure to asbestos caused his mesothelioma. After a 14 day trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiffs, finding that William’s exposure to asbestos-containing insulation products installed by Wallace & Gale Co. (W&G) during the construction of Loch Raven High School (LRHS), a location where plaintiff worked, was a substantial causative factor in the development of his mesothelioma. The plaintiff worked in the boiler room where …

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California / Other Asbestos News
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California Jury Deadlocked Over Talc Claims

CALIFORNIA — A mistrial was declared in a talc lawsuit filed against Johnson & Johnson in the Superior Court for Los Angeles, after a jury remained deadlocked following more than five days of deliberations. The plaintiff, Carolyn Weirick, alleges that she developed mesothelioma through the use of asbestos-contaminated talc, and sought at least $25 million in damages. The plaintiff allegedly used Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder for more than forty years, and was diagnosed with mesothelioma at age 58. The parties agreed that she had …

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New York / Other Asbestos News
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Former Speaker of the New York State Assembly’s Motion to Continue Bail and Stay Fine Denied in Part

NEW YORK — Former Speaker of the New York State Assembly, Sheldon Silver moved to continue bail and stay his fine after a jury found him guilty on two counts of honest services mail fraud, two counts of honest services wire fraud, two counts of extortion under color of official right, and one count of money laundering. Silver was alleged to have schemed to received referral fees from a physician in connection with asbestos litigation.

Silver’s motion to continue bail was denied as the “Government …

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New York / Other Asbestos News / Verdict
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First New York State Appellate Level Additur Decision Issued

NEW YORK — With little to no analysis, the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court affirmed various decisions issued by the trial court in 2017 during a ten day trial, wherein the plaintiff alleged development of mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure. These included, among other rulings: granting defendants Crane Co. and Warren Pumps motion to quash trial subpoenas; denial of defendant Jenkins Bros.’ motion to set aside the verdict; granting of the plaintiff’s motion to set aside the verdict to the extent of …

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Illinois / Other Asbestos News
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Denial of Judgment Notwithstanding The Verdict Reversed For Welding Rod Defendant

Illinois — Following a trial in which a jury found that Hobart Brothers Company (Hobart) had failed to warn the plaintiff, Charles McKinney of the dangers of asbestos from its welding rods, Hobart appealed the trial court’s denial of its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. The appellate court reversed the trial court’s denial, finding no evidence in the record demonstrating that the welding industry knew in the 1960s that welding rods could release asbestos fibers, or that welding rods were a substantial cause of …

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