Category: Summary Judgment

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Summary Judgment
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Plaintiff’s Action for Mesothelioma Barred by Res Judicata Due to Language in Prior Release

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana

In this asbestos action, decedent Felton Robichaux alleged occupational exposure to asbestos at the Avondale Shipyards from 1961 until 1979. Robichaux filed the first complaint in Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans in October 1999. Robichaux settled his claims with multiple defendants, including General Electric, IMO, and Viacom (Cross Defendants).

Thereafter, Robichaux developed mesothelioma and filed a second complaint in January 2022. The plaintiff directly sued several defendants, including General Electric, Viacom, and Avondale …

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Summary Judgment
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Printing Press Manufacturer’s Motion for Summary Judgment Denied

Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County

Plaintiff Jean Castagna filed suit against a number of defendants, including Komori America Corporation, alleging exposure to asbestos during his employment with Martin Lithographers, Inc. in the 1980s. Komori moved to dismiss the action of the grounds that Mr. Castagna was not exposed to asbestos from any Komori-branded product. Specifically, Mr. Castagna alleged that he was exposed to asbestos via a Komori printing press in 1980, but Komori was not incorporated until 1982. Komori …

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Summary Judgment
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Questions of Fact Split Summary Judgment for Valve Defendants

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

In this asbestos action, the plaintiff alleges that decedent David Welch’s mesothelioma was caused by his exposure to asbestos from his service in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Carronade and the USS Princeton. The plaintiff filed a complaint against defendants Crane Co. and Velan Valve Corporation, alleging that the decedent’s mesothelioma was caused by asbestos-containing components and insulation manufactured by the companies. The plaintiff’s claims are based on “negligence and strict product liability under Section …

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New York / Summary Judgment
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General Contractor’s Motion for Summary Judgment Denied

Court Jurisdiction: Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County (NYCAL)

In this asbestos case, decedent, Richard Robinson passed away immediately after the commencement of the instant action. One of the defendants, Tishman Liquidating Corporation was not identified in plaintiff’s answer to interrogatories. However, during the discovery deposition of Roddy Davis, a fact witness that was an employee of the business owned by decedent and his family, Davis identified Tishman as a general contractor of job sites where Keystone Wire & Iron …

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Causation / Summary Judgment
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Asbestos Supplier’s Motion for Summary Judgment Denied on Causation Grounds

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

The plaintiff’s decedent, Alfred Broderick, was allegedly diagnosed with asbestosis in March 2018, which he claimed was caused by exposure to asbestos. Mr. Broderick and his wife filed suit in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in July 2018, and their case was removed to federal court in August 2018. Mr. Broderick passed away in January 2022, predeceased by his wife, who died in December 2021.

Prior to his passing, Mr. Broderick provided deposition testimony in …

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Causation / New York / Punitive Damages / Summary Judgment
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Talc Supplier’s Motion for Summary Judgment Denied as to Causation, Granted as to Punitive Damages

Court: Supreme Court of New York, Erie County

In this asbestos matter, plaintiffs claimed that decedent, Jeffrey Campise, was exposed to asbestos through consumer talcum powder products. Plaintiffs filed suit against a number of manufacturers of cosmetic-talc products, along with Whitaker, Clark & Daniels (WCD), as an alleged supplier of talc to the aforementioned manufacturers. WCD filed a motion for summary judgment seeking to dismiss plaintiffs’ claims in their entirety. 

As a preliminary matter, WCD argued it was speculative as to whether its talc was in …

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Louisiana / Summary Judgment
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Court Denies, in Part, Plaintiffs’ Appeal of Summary Judgment for Various Defendants

Jurisdiction: Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit

In April 2018, Emily Everett complained to her primary care physician of severe abdominal swelling.  After extensive workup, Everett received a diagnosis of mesothelioma. She attributed the diagnosis to laundering her husband’s work clothes over a 20-year period when he worked as a journeyman welder and boilermaker. She filed a petition for damages in June 2018 prior to her passing in April 2019. In March 2022, several defendants including Foster Wheeler filed separate motions for summary judgment. Defendant Peter Kiewit Sons later …

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Expert Testimony / Summary Judgment / Tennessee
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Railway Employer Obtains Summary Judgment Due to Exclusion of Plaintiff’s Experts

Court: Court of Appeals of Tennessee, At Jackson

Plaintiff Annie Dowdy is a former employee of defendant BNSF Railway Company. She filed suit against BNSF under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (“FELA”), alleging that BNSF negligently failed to provide a reasonably safe work place, and claiming that occupational exposure to diesel exhaust and asbestos caused or contributed to her renal cancer. Plaintiff relief on the testimony of two expert witnesses: Dr. Hernando Perez, who was retained to testify regarding negligence and liability, and Dr. Ernest …

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New York / Summary Judgment
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Plaintiff’s Worksite Testimony Precludes Summary Judgment for Contractor Defendant

Court: Supreme Court of New York, New York County

In this asbestos action, defendant Tishman Liquidating Corporation moved for summary judgment on the grounds that it is not responsible for any of the three job sites for which the plaintiff identified the company as the general contractor, and, therefore, is not liable for any injury that the plaintiff allegedly sustained from such sites.

For two of the sites, Tishman proffered New York Times articles that reported the general contractors to be companies other than Tishman, …

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New York / Summary Judgment
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Clutch Manufacturer Obtains Summary Judgment on Medical Causation Grounds

Court: Supreme Court of the State of New York, Nassau County

In this asbestos action, plaintiff Donna Daniell alleged asbestos exposure from working near auto mechanics, including her husband, Robert, while they used asbestos-containing products. She also alleged asbestos exposure from laundering her husband’s work clothes. She contends that she developed lung cancer from these exposures. Defendant LuK Clutch Systems LLC moved for summary judgment, arguing that Donna’s exposure to asbestos from LuK clutches would have been minimal and “similar [to] the ambient levels of asbestos in …

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