Category: State

Case Decisions / Connecticut / Summary Judgment
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Summary Judgment for Crane Manufacturer Based on Affidavit of Company Vice President

Plaintif Katherine Filosi, individually and as executor of the estate of Donald Filosi, filed a complaint against multiple defendants, including American Crane & Equipment Corporation (ACECO).  The plaintiff alleged that the decedent Donald Filosi was exposed to asbestos while employed by Boat Corporation (Electric Boat) as a rigger from 1961 to 1998 and, as a result of that exposure, he developed lung cancer and died.

Defendant ACECO moved for summary judgment, arguing that the plaintiff produced no evidence from which a jury could conclude that …

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Case Decisions / Florida / Summary Judgment
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Court Denies Multiple Motions including Plaintiff and Ford Motor Co.’s Daubert Motions, Ford’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Plaintiff’s Motion for Reconsideration

Plaintiff James Waite and his wife Sandra Waite brought this action against Ford Motor Co. and Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) for Mr. Waites’ alleged development of mesothelioma from his work on brakes and clutches. UCC’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction was at first denied by the Court but then granted on UCC’s Motion for Reconsideration. Ford then moved to exclude the plaintiffs’ experts (Daubert Motion) and for summary judgment. The plaintiff moved to preclude various elements of Ford’s proposed expert witness testimony …

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Case Decisions / Delaware / Summary Judgment
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Defendants Granted Summary Judgment Where Plaintiff Failed to Satisfy Frequency, Proximity, Regularity Standard

Plaintiff Robert Lee Winhauer filed an asbestos action in the Delaware Superior Court against multiple defendants, asserting personal injury claims relating to a mesothelioma diagnosis proximately caused by alleged exposure to asbestos. The defendants removed the action to the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. After Winhauer’s death, the complaint was amended to substitute a representative of the estate and add a wrongful death claim. The defendants Honeywell (successor in interest to Bendix) and Ingersoll Rand both filed motions for summary judgment, which …

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California / Case Decisions / Summary Judgment
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Motion for Reconsideration of Summary Judgment of Defendants Electric Boat and General Dynamics Denied for Failure to Establish Material Difference in Fact or Law

The plaintiffs’ filed suit in the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles, alleging her decedent developed mesothelioma as a result of occupational exposure to asbestos while he worked as a machinist on various U.S. Navy ships manufactured by the defendants.

The case was removed to federal court and Electric Boat and General Dynamics moved for summary judgment on all of the plaintiffs’ claims. The court denied the motions. The defendants’ included in their motions the argument that strict liability claims could not be …

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Case Decisions / Connecticut / Summary Judgment
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Summary Judgment Recommended Where Plaintiff Fails to Establish Substantial Factor Causation Against Multiple Defendants

Plaintiff Mark Hillyer sued multiple defendants, alleging that he developed mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos-containing products while serving in the Navy from 1967 to 1997. His claims were based in negligence, strict liability and loss of consortium. In discovery, the plaintiff was deposed on two occasions but did not produce any other fact or product identification witnesses. The plaintiff testified that, while on the USS George Washington Carver, he conducted preventative maintenance to main engines and turbine generators as well as corrective …

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California / Case Decisions / Expert Challenges / Summary Judgment
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Appellate Court Allows Industrial Hygienist’s Reliance on Hearsay Evidence in Overturning Summary Judgment in Favor of Defendant Lumber Company

The plaintiff, Jerry Charlifue, sued Goodman Lumber Company after he was diagnosed with mesothelioma. He worked as a taper and painter for U.S. Taping Company between 1972 and 1978. His duties involved applying joint compound and smoothing out walls and ceilings where drywall had been hung. The plaintiff worked with dry joint compound for the first three to four years of the job, which produced respirable dust.

Goodman moved for summary judgment on the basis that the plaintiff could not prove that he was exposed …

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Case Decisions / Florida / Summary Judgment
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Court Denies Aircraft Engine Manufacturer’s Motion for Summary Judgment Based on Military Contractor Defense

The plaintiff filed a Third Amended Complaint against United Technologies Corporation, alleging that UTC was liable in negligence and strict liability for the allegedly defective warnings accompanying Pratt and Whitney TF-30 aircraft engines and for their allegedly defective designs. The plaintiff claims that these defects led to her husband Darryl Dugas’ exposure to asbestos and mesothelioma.

During his service in the U.S. Navy, Mr. Dugas worked at Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Florida and aboard the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt. As part of his duties, he …

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Case Decisions / Illinois / Statute of Repose / Summary Judgment
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Insulation Found to be Integral to Turbine as Court Grants Renewed Motion for Summary Judgment Based on Statute of Repose

The plaintiff brought this action against defendants, including Westinghouse, for Earl Norberg, her decedent’s, alleged development of lung cancer as a result of his work around asbestos containing products while working at the Joliet and Romeoville Power stations.

The plaintiff’s fact witness was Mr. Norberg’s brother, Howard, who recalled that he and the plaintiff worked at Joliet Power Station from 1963-65 and again in the mid-1970s. Specifically, he testified that workers were insulating a turbine at Unit 9 while Units 7 and 8 were being …

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California / Case Decisions / Damages / Punitive Damages / Verdict Reduction
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Court Issues Significant Verdict Reduction Based in Part on Jury Error of Finding Intentional Misrepresentation and Fraudulent Concealment

In a case previously reported on in ACT, a California jury found for the plaintiffs, Louis Tyler and Elizabeth Tyler and against defendant American Optical Corporation (AOC), the lone defendant remaining at trial, with an award of $22.8 million. This award consisted of $1.8 million in economic damages (medical expenses, lost income, household services, etc.) and $21 million in non-economic damages. The jury also found that AOC acted with malice, oppression and fraud, and awarded $10 million in punitive damages. The overall verdict totaled …

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Case Decisions / Kentucky
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Kentucky Appellate Court Affirms Trial Court Finding of Plaintiff’s Failure to Establish Causation to Brake Defendants

The plaintiff Hershel Mannahan brought an action against the defendants for his alleged development of mesothelioma as a result of his work as a laborer, driller, oiler, truck driver, mechanic, and welder for Peabody Coal Mannahan worked as a welder for Peabody at the Vogue Mine from March 1974 to February 1977 and at Riverview Mine from May 1977 to June 1978. He also performed welding and mechanic work at Vogue Mine from June 1978  until February 1986, when he retired.

The plaintiff allegedly performed …

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