Category: Summary Judgment

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Connecticut / Summary Judgment
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Court Grants Summary Judgment to Turbine Manufacturer Due to Lack of Causation

CONNECTICUT – The plaintiff, Patricia Murray, alleged that the decedent was exposed to asbestos from products manufactured or marketed by multiple defendants, including CBS Corporation. The defendant filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that there was insufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude that the decedent was exposed to asbestos from CBS’s products. The motion was unopposed.

The plaintiff’s claims of strict liability, negligence, breach of warranty, and failure to warn all fall under the Connecticut Products Liability Act (CPLA). Causation is …

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Mississippi / Summary Judgment
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Summary Judgment Granted to Automotive Manufacturer Due to Lack of Causation

United States District Court, N.D. Mississippi, February 18, 2020

MISSISSIPPI – The plaintiffs allege that the decedent, Beverly Bedford, developed mesothelioma from asbestos exposure through her work at Honda of Tupelo, a motorcycle dealership and service center she owned from the late 1970s to 2014. It is alleged that she was exposed to asbestos from Honda’s brakes, clutches, and gaskets. The decedent primarily worked in an office separate from the service shop area. Honda moved for summary judgment dismissing all of the plaintiffs’ claims.

Honda …

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Expert Challenges / New York / Summary Judgment
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Lack of Causation Leads to Grant of Summary Judgment for Friction Defendant in Lung Cancer Case

NEW YORK – The plaintiff, Glen Schrank, sued multiple defendants, including Ford Motor alleging that he developed lung cancer from his work as an automobile mechanic from approximately 1972-1991. Schrank smoked Parliament filtered cigarettes beginning in 1966 and smoked between one and one and a half packs per day. Ford moved for an order precluding the plaintiff’s expert witnesses or in the alternative a Frye Reed hearing. In support of its position, Ford offered an affidavit from Dr. Anil Vachani. Dr. Vachani’s testimony illustrated various …

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Maritime/Admiralty Law / Summary Judgment / Washington
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Multiple Defendants Granted Summary Judgment in Maritime Action on Lack of Causation

WASHINGTON – The plaintiffs filed suit against multiple defendants, including Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation, Warren Pumps, and Air & Liquid Systems Corporation, alleging that their decedent, Deem, developed mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos-containing products while working as a machinist at the Puget Naval Shipyard from 1974-1981. Two co-workers testified as to work performed at the shipyard. Work included repairs on lots of equipment including valves, pumps, catapults, distilling plants, turbines, compressors, and steam traps. Additional tasks included removal of old flange gaskets, …

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New York / Summary Judgment
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Court Grants Summary Judgment for Furnace Manufacturer Based on Lack of Evidence of Exposure

NEW YORK – On January 24, 2020, the Honorable Deborah Chimes granted Foster Wheeler, LLC’s motion for summary judgment in the Schuman case. The plaintiff, Patricia Schuman, executrix for the decedent , Matthew Schuman, filed suit alleging that the decedent died of mesothelioma as a result of his exposure to asbestos. The decedent passed away prior to being deposed in this action, but was deposed in March 2003 in a separate action for his damages related to pleural plaques. The plaintiff argued that the decedent …

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Louisiana / Summary Judgment
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Court Grants Pump Manufacturer’s Unopposed Motion for Summary Judgment Finding No Genuine Issue of Material Fact

LOUISIANA – On March 7, 2018, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of the plaintiff, Cary Gomez, alleging take-home exposure to asbestos through the plaintiff’s father’s employment at Avondale Shipyards in the 1960s, and through the plaintiff’s work as a plumber for Aardvark Contractors, Inc. from 1988 to 2011. The plaintiff contends that he contracted mesothelioma from his exposure to asbestos.

The defendant, Viking Pump, Inc., filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that the plaintiff has failed to provide evidence:

  1. That the plaintiff or
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Appeal / Summary Judgment / Wisconsin
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Defendant’s Summary Judgment Upheld by Wisconsin Appellate Court Finding That the 10-Year Statute of Repose Barred Appellant’s Claims

WISCONSIN – In this appellate action, Jacqueline Nooyen, the plaintiff, sought to appeal the circuit court’s decision to grant summary judgment to the defendants, Wisconsin Electric Power Company, Madison Gas and Electric Company, Wisconsin Power & Light Company, and Wisconsin Public Service Corporation.

The plantiff’s husband, the decedent, was a career pipefitter who, between 1970 and 1973, was involved in the original construction of two nuclear power plants owned by the defendants. On December 2, 2016, the decedent was diagnosed with mesothelioma as a result …

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Appeal / Summary Judgment
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California Appellate Court Upholds Defendants’ Summary Judgment Based Upon Appellants’ Failure to Create a Triable Issue of Material Fact

CALIFORNIA – In July 2016, Ann Patrice Gibbons, the plaintiff/appellant, was diagnosed with mesothelioma. A lawsuit was filed by the appellant and her husband in December 2016, alleging the appellant’s exposure to asbestos through her own use, from 1980 to 2000, of Shower to Shower talcum powder manufactured by Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. (JJCI), as well as take-home exposure from the appellant’s current and former spouses, who worked in the construction industry from 1981 to 2000.

JJCI, along with their supplier of talc, Imerys …

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Pennsylvania / Summary Judgment
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Defendants Win Locomotive Inspection Act Preemption Argument on Summary Judgment Motion in Pennsylvania

PENNSYLVANIA – A personal injury lawsuit was filed in the court of common pleas of Philadelphia County in April 2016 on behalf of the decedent, Diane Shields. Thereafter, it was removed to federal court. The complaint alleged common law causes of action for negligence, wrongful death and survivorship claims due to the decedent’s exposure to asbestos through her employment at the Motor Coils Manufacturing Company in Braddock, PA.

The decedent worked as a laborer at Motor Coils where she cleaned pinion gears as part of …

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Connecticut / Maritime/Admiralty Law / Summary Judgment
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Lack of Admissible Evidence Against General Electric Leads to Grant of Summary Judgment in Maritime Meso Case

CONNECTICUT – The Carlson’s brought suit against several defendants including General Electric (GE) alleging that Kurt Carlson developed mesothelioma as a result of exposure to the defendants’ asbestos-containing products while working as a radiological control technician for General Dynamics/Electric Boat Corp. from 1973-1974. The plaintiffs provided answers to interrogatories to GE. The answers did not list GE as the plaintiff’s employer or as a product to which he was exposed. The plaintiff was also deposed and did not name GE as a product to which …

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