Category: Take-Home Exposure

Mesothelioma
Louisiana / Take-Home Exposure
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Plaintiff Cannot Sustain Loss of Consortium Claim Related to Own Alleged Injuries

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, November 2, 2021

Plaintiff Ethel Sampey alleged that she was diagnosed with mesothelioma as a result of take-home exposure to asbestos from her uncle’s work at Avondale Shipyard from 1957 to 1965, and from her employment as a bartender at bars frequented by Avondale workers after their work in the shipyard from 1966 to 1979.

In her complaint she sought damages for, inter alia, loss of consortium, which includes “elements of loss of service, loss …

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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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Take-Home Exposure / Texas
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Summary Judgment Affirmed for Union Carbide Due to Lack of Causation

Court of Appeals of Texas, Fourteenth District, Houston, March 2, 2021

In this instant take-home exposure matter, the trial court granted defendant Union Carbide’s motion for summary judgment and the plaintiff now appeals the trial court’s order. The appellate court affirms the lower court’s decision. In response to Union Carbide’s motion, appellants offered several pieces of evidence including the decedent’s medical records, the deposition of all three of the decedent’s children (Ronda, Michelle, and Royce), Royce’s affidavit, and an expert affidavit from Dr. Richard Cohen.…

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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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Summary Judgment / Take-Home Exposure
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Expert Testimony Insufficient to Create Issue of Fact in Take Home Exposure Case

The Ninth Circuit affirmed an Idaho district court’s order granting summary judgment for the defendant, Union Pacific, in a secondary exposure case filed by the plaintiff William Stephens. The plaintiff alleged that his father was exposed to asbestos at his job at a Union Pacific roundhouse in Weiser, Idaho, and carried asbestos home on his clothes, exposing his family and contributing to the plaintiff’s mesothelioma. The plaintiff had also worked for 20 years in lumber mills in Oregon, and brought suit against his former employers …

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Summary Judgment / Take-Home Exposure / Wisconsin
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Possibility of Exposure to Asbestos in Cosmetic Talc Not Sufficient to Survive Summary Judgment

WISCONSIN – The plaintiff, Dale Chapp, filed suit against Colgate Palmolive arguing that his late wife, Ruth Chapp, developed mesothelioma from her use of Cashmere Bouquet talcum powder from approximately 1969-the mid-1980s. The plaintiff also alleged that Ruth Chapp was secondarily exposed to asbestos from laundering his work clothes. Colgate moved for summary judgment. The trial court found that Chapp had “not shown more than the mere possibility of causation” and granted summary judgment in factor of Colgate. The plaintiff appealed.

On appeal, the court …

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Take-Home Exposure / Virginia
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Expansion of Employer Take-Home Asbestos Exposure Duty Reaches Nine States

VIRGINIA — The State of Virginia recently expanded the potential duty to warn owed for take-home asbestos exposures in the Quisenberry case.

The plaintiff Wesley Quisenberry filed suit on behalf of his decedent mother, alleging that her exposure to asbestos while laundering her father’s clothes caused her mesothelioma. The plaintiff’s decedent’s father worked at a shipyard for 35 years, and the plaintiffs allege that asbestos dust adhered to his clothing, contaminated his car, and came home with him.

The defendant removed the case to federal …

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Appeal / Maryland / Take-Home Exposure
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Maryland Appellate Court Upholds Motion for Judgment on Basis that Manufacturer Had no Duty to Warn of Take-Home Exposure

MARYLAND – Concetta Schatz’s (Mrs. Schatz) children (Appellants) commenced a lawsuit against John Crane, Inc. (JCI), alleging that Mrs. Schatz’s husband handled asbestos-containing JCI products while at work and wore his asbestos-covered clothing home for Mrs. Schatz to launder, thereby exposing her to asbestos, resulting in her mesothelioma diagnosis and eventual death.

At the close of Appellants’ case-in-chief, JCI moved for judgment on the basis that Appellants failed to prove JCI owed a legal duty to warn Mrs. Schatz.  The lower Circuit Court granted JCI’s …

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Summary Judgment / Take-Home Exposure
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Lack of Exposure Evidence Leads to Grant of Summary Judgment for Railroad Defendant

IDAHO — The plaintiffs filed suit against Union Pacific Railroad (Union Pacific) alleging that Rollie Stephens had brought asbestos home on his work clothes which caused his son, William, to develop mesothelioma. Specifically, the plaintiffs argued that Rollie Stephens was exposed to asbestos from his work at the Weiser roundhouse working on steam locomotives that contained insulation. Union Pacific moved for judgment as a matter of law. The plaintiff moved for summary judgment as to affirmative defenses.

The court began its analysis with the standard …

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Expert Challenges / Take-Home Exposure / Washington
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Plaintiff’s Request for Reconsideration of Granting of Summary Judgment Denied in Railroad Take-Home Exposure Case

WASHINGTON — In an update to a case previously reported by Asbestos Case Tracker, The plaintiff’s Motion for Reconsideration of the Court’s Order granting summary judgment for Union Pacific Railroad has been denied.

By way of background, the plaintiffs alleged that Mr. Jack was secondarily exposed to asbestos from the work clothes of his father who worked at Union Pacific Railroad. The plaintiffs argued that the court failed to properly review 1) information provided by the plaintiffs’ expert Dr. Barry Castleman; and 2) the court …

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