Category: Summary Judgment

Judge chamber with gavel
Pennsylvania / Summary Judgment
Posted by:

Grant of Summary Judgment to Premises/Employer Defendant Upheld on Appeal

Superior Court of Pennsylvania, June 23, 2022

In this asbestos action, decedent John Wheeler alleged asbestos exposure from his work as a millwright at a U.S. Steel (USX) plant. Wheeler’s co-workers testified in this matter as Wheeler passed away before he could be deposed. The trial court granted USX’s motion for summary judgment and the plaintiff subsequently appealed the trial court’s decision.

The plaintiff first appealed the trial court’s determination that an employee was not a business invitee. The appellate court first established that the …

Continue Reading
Close up of Male lawyer or judge hand's striking the gavel on sounding block, working with Law books, report the case on table in modern office, Law and justice concept
Louisiana / Summary Judgment
Posted by:

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 …

Continue Reading
judge with gavel
Louisiana / Summary Judgment
Posted by:

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 …

Continue Reading
Close up of Male lawyer or judge hand's striking the gavel on sounding block, working with Law books, report the case on table in modern office, Law and justice concept
Pennsylvania / Summary Judgment
Posted by:

Multiple Defendants Obtain Summary Judgment on Claims of Take-Home Plaintiff

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, May 27, 2022

In this matter, the plaintiffs allege that decedent Shirley Hilster was exposed to asbestos from contact with her husband’s work clothes and person from laundering his work clothes and spending time in his vehicle. Defendant Eckel Industries, Inc. filed motions for summary judgment and to exclude the plaintiffs’ expert, Dr. Edwin Holstein. In its motion for summary judgment, Eckel argues that the plaintiffs’ claims against it must be dismissed because there is no …

Continue Reading
judge with gavel
Maritime/Admiralty Law / Summary Judgment
Posted by:

Summary Judgment Granted Dismissing Plaintiff’s State Claims Against Employer Under LHWCA

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, May 19, 2022

In this asbestos action, plaintiff Callen Cortez brought state tort claims against Continental Insurance Company, sued in its capacity as the insurer of Halter Marine Services, Inc. The plaintiff worked at Halter Marine from 1974 until 1975, and was subsequently diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2020. Continental moved for summary judgment on the basis that the plaintiff’s claims against it are preempted under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA).

Ultimately, the …

Continue Reading
Maritime/Admiralty Law / New York / Summary Judgment
Posted by:

Motions for Summary Judgment in Jones Act Matter Denied on Statute of Limitations and Causation Grounds

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, May 9, 2022

In this asbestos action, decedent Carlo Badamo served on several vessels during his time as a merchant marine from 1944 to 1955. Thereafter, he alleged that he developed asbestos-related cancer and brought a claim under the Jones Act. Three defendants: Farrell Lines, Chiquita, and Chevron, brought motions for summary judgment contending that the decedent’s claim is barred by the three-year statute of limitations. The defendants assert that the decedent underwent X-ray …

Continue Reading
Mesothelioma
Louisiana / Summary Judgment
Posted by:

Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment on General Causation Granted as Against Various Defendants

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

In this case, the plaintiff moved for summary judgment as to general causation of his mesothelioma diagnosis. Eight defendants filed five oppositions to the plaintiff’s motion; however, they largely did not challenge the plaintiff’s mesothelioma diagnosis or asbestos as its cause. Rather, they contested specific causation or “the sources of plaintiff’s exposure, the asbestos fiber types to which he was exposed, and whether particular products or defendants are responsible for causing his …

Continue Reading
Appeal / Summary Judgment
Posted by:

Prior Release Bars Plaintiff’s Claims Against Railroad Defendant

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Plaintiff Leopoldo Mendoza-Gomez worked for 20 years as a laborer for the defendant, Union Pacific Railroad Company. He alleges that, while working for Union, he was exposed to various toxic substances including asbestos, and that he was diagnosed with cancer and asbestosis in 2019. In response to his filing of a federal lawsuit, Union asserted that the plaintiff’s claims were barred due to a release that the parties entered into in 2012. In that release, the plaintiff specifically …

Continue Reading
Pennsylvania / Summary Judgment
Posted by:

Court Grants Summary Judgment to Turbine Defendants Finding Manufactures Entitled to Bare-Metal Defense

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, April 1, 2022

The decedent’s widow brought this suit on behalf of the decedent alleging that the decedent’s occupational exposure to asbestos during his time in the Navy is attributable to turbines manufactured by the Westinghosue Corporation. The plaintiff also brought suit against the defendant CBS Corporation alleging CBS is a successor by merger of Westinghouse. The plaintiff also contends decedent’s injuries were caused in part by turbines manufactured by General Electric Company.

The defendant …

Continue Reading
New York / Summary Judgment
Posted by:

Denial of Floor Tile Manufacturer’s Motion for Summary Judgment

Supreme Court of New York, New York County, March 29, 2022

From 1964 to the early 1970s, the plaintiff worked as a carpenter with his brother-in-law and the Carpenter’s Union, Local 257.  From 1969 to his retirement in 2007, he worked as a carpenter at commercial and residential locations throughout New York.  The plaintiff was diagnosed with lung cancer in March 2020.  The plaintiff filed a lawsuit premised on his exposure to Goodyear floor tile that he encountered during the late 1960s and early 1970s.  …

Continue Reading