Category: Summary Judgment

North Carolina / Summary Judgment / Take-Home Exposure
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Summary Judgment Granted to Contractor Defendant in Take-Home Exposure Case

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, March 22, 2021

Plaintiff Kenneth McDaniel worked as an operator for Duke Power at its Belews Creek Power Plant in North Carolina from 1974 to 2005. His wife, Deborah McDaniel, whom he married in 1978, was diagnosed with lung cancer and filed suit, alleging that her disease was caused by her exposure to asbestos dust on her husband’s work clothing, which she laundered throughout their marriage. Defendant, Daniel International Corporation, a contractor, filed a motion …

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Rhode Island / Summary Judgment
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Valve Manufacturer’s Motion for Summary Judgment Denied

Superior Court of Rhode Island, Providence, March 16, 2021

On June 17, 2011, The plaintiffs filed a complaint, alleging that the decedent, Walter Burdick, died as a result of exposure to asbestos or asbestos-containing products sold, manufactured, or distributed by the defendants, including NIBCO, Inc. during the decedent’s employment as a laborer, mechanic, maintenance man, boiler operator, pipefitter, machinist, and welder at various steam plants and construction sites throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey beginning in the mid-1940s. 

During discovery, NIBCO deposed the decedent, who testified to having worked …

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Appeal / Summary Judgment
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Premises and Contractor Defendants’ Summary Judgment Affirmed

Court of Appeals of Iowa, March 17, 2021

The decedent, Charles Beverage, was employed as an independent contractor at an aluminum plant between the 1950s and the mid-1970s. After his passing in October 2015, the decedent’s estate filed a products liability suit against several the defendants alleging the decedent was exposed to asbestos during his employment, and as a result contracted mesothelioma. Two defendants, the aluminum plant’s owner, Alcoa, Inc. and an installer of insulation, Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation, Inc. (IITI) filed motions for summary judgment …

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Mesothelioma
New York / Summary Judgment
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Summary Judgment Granted to Ceramic Manufacturer Based on Asset Purchase Agreement

Supreme Court of New York, New York County, March 10, 2021

Defendant Gare Incorporated filed this instant motion for summary judgment pursuant to CPLR 3212. The plaintiffs allege that Lorraine Berger’s (the decedent) June 22, 2018 diagnosis of mesothelioma was causally connected to her asbestos exposure from Gare asbestos-containing products. Gare’s motion contends that Gare has no liability for claims or litigation based on events occurring before July 21, 1983.

Here, Gare avers that it cannot be held liable for the decedent’s exposure to Gare products …

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Expert Challenges / Summary Judgment
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Talc Manufacturer’s Motion for Summary Judgment Denied Due to Conflicting Expert Reports

Supreme Court of New York, New York County, March 11, 2021

Defendant Vanderbilt Minerals LLC filed this instant motion for summary judgment, pursuant to CPLR 3212, dismissing all claims and causes of action, including any and all cross claims, against Vanderbilt or in the alternative granting partial summary judgment in favor of Vanderbilt as to any and all claims and causes of action, including cross-claims, relating to products manufactured by defendant American Art Clay Company, Inc. (AMACO). The plaintiff opposes the motion.

The case at issue …

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FELA / Summary Judgment / Washington
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Railway Defendant’s MSJ Denied on Statute of Limitations Defense Due to Decedent’s Constructive Knowledge Relating Workplace Exposures to Cancer

Decedent Gene Sponcler worked for over 40 years for defendant BNSF Railway Company and its predecessor in interest as a laborer, brakeman, and conductor. The decedent was diagnosed with kidney cancer in late 2010 (the exact date is disputed by the parties) and passed away on January 25, 2016. The decedent’s wife filed this action on January 24, 2019, one day short of three years after the decedent’s passing.

BNSF seeks summary judgment and contends that the plaintiff’s claims brought under the Federal Employers’ Liability …

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Maritime/Admiralty Law / Summary Judgment / Washington
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Shipyard Defendant’s MSJ Granted as Plaintiffs Failed to Establish the Amount and Duration of Decedent’s Exposure

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, March 4, 2021

Defendant Puget Sound Commerce Center, Inc. formerly known as Todd Shipyards Corporation filed an amended motion for summary judgment/partial summary judgment. The plaintiffs allege the decedent John Dale Wineland worked at Todd Shipyards in 1974, where he was negligently exposed to asbestos, including asbestos-containing insulation supplied by Todd Shipyards, and that this exposure caused the decedent’s mesothelioma and death. Todd Shipyards seeks dismissal of both the negligence and strict liability claims asserted against …

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Maritime/Admiralty Law / Summary Judgment
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Pump Manufacturer Granted Summary Judgment on Causation Grounds

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, March 1, 2021

Defendant Aurora Pump Company filed this instant motion for summary judgment and motion to strike. By way of background, plaintiff Ronald H. Berhmann worked on ships while serving in the U.S. Navy and while working in the Todd and Lockheed Shipyards in Seattle, Washington. Aurora manufactured pumps and asbestos-containing gaskets and packing for those pumps for use on ships. The plaintiff was an electrician, therefore, he did not work directly on pumps. Rather, …

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Federal Officer Removal / Louisiana / Summary Judgment
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Court of Appeals Affirms Summary Judgment Finding No Evidence Decedent Exposed to Defendants’ Products

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, February 26, 2021

The plaintiffs claim their farther, a mechanical engineer at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF), was killed by asbestos products sold and installed by defendants McCarty Corporation and Taylor Seidenbach, Inc.  Deteriorating asbestos and asbestos remediation occurred in the buildings in which the decedent worked.

The plaintiffs appealed the district court’s granting of summary judgment for the defendants concluding that the court found no evidence of decedent’s exposure to respirable asbestos at the MAF.  …

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Mesothelioma
Summary Judgment / Take-Home Exposure
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Summary and Post-Trial Motions for Judgment Upheld on Issues of Take-Home Exposure and Post-Sale Duty to Warn

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, February 22, 2021

The plaintiffs appealed the decision of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, granting summary judgment to Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) and granting post-trial motions for judgment as a matter of law for Ford Motor Company and DCo, LLC in a case that arose out of the decedent Patrick Jack’s alleged mesothelioma. Mr. Jack alleged, inter alia, that he was exposed to asbestos via take-home exposure from his …

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