Category: Texas

Judge chamber with gavel
Appeal / Summary Judgment / Texas
Posted by:

Appellate Court Reverses Premise Defendant’s Summary Judgment Ruling

Court:  Court of Appeals of Texas, Fourteenth District, Houston

Carolyn and Frank Burford were married from November 1962 until Carolyn’s death in 2015. While married, Frank Buford worked for Alcoa at its aluminum smelter in Rockdale, Texas. As a potlining helper, Mr. Burford regularly worked with and around asbestos-containing materials.  Mrs. Burford (Carolyn, or decedent) washed his work clothing every day for a period of 25 years. In 2006, she sought medical care after developing shortness of breath. Her pulmonologist diagnosed her with asbestosis and she later died …

Continue Reading
judge's gavel and books
Appeal / Causation / Texas
Posted by:

Texas Appellate Court Reverses Summary Judgment in Take-Home Exposure Case

Court: Court of Appeals of Texas, Fourteenth District, Houston

In this asbestos action, a Texas Appellate Court reversed and remanded the grant of a no-evidence summary judgment motion as to defendant Howmet Aerospace Inc., f/k/a Arconic, Inc., f/k/a Alcoa, Inc. (“Alcoa”).

The surviving husband and children of decedent Carolyn Burford asserted wrongful death and survival claims against the husband’s former employer, Alcoa, alleging decedent suffered injuries and death as a result of asbestosis caused by her inhalation of asbestos fibers that her husband brought home …

Continue Reading
Remand/Removal / Texas
Posted by:

Talc Case Remanded as Defendant Failed to Show Complete Diversity or Improper Joinder

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, March 17, 2022

In this asbestos action, plaintiff Naomi Wisener alleged that several defendants manufactured or supplied asbestos-containing products which exposed her to asbestos. Wisener commenced this action in state court (14th Judicial Court of Dallas County, Texas). Defendant Revlon removed the matter to federal court (United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas). Thereafter, Wisener moved to remand the matter to state court.

As the party removing the matter to …

Continue Reading
Mesothelioma
Summary Judgment / Texas
Posted by:

Mask Manufacturer Defendant Successful on Summary Judgment

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, September 10, 2021

Decedent James LaFrentz was employed by General Dynamics Corporation from 1978 to 1984 at the Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas, as a drill press operator and a machinist. The complaint, filed by the plaintiffs in 2018 on behalf of the decedent, claimed that while performing his job, LaFrentz was exposed to asbestos which caused his mesothelioma. The plaintiffs alleged the 3M dust mask (the 8710 Respirator) the decedent …

Continue Reading
Appeal / Summary Judgment / Texas
Posted by:

Summary Judgment Affirmed for Premises Defendant on Causation Grounds

Court of Appeals of Texas, First District, Houston, July 13, 2021

The plaintiff, Thelma Mullins, alleged that the decedent, Donald Mullins, was exposed to asbestos while working at ARCO’s petrochemical plant. The plaintiff claimed that the asbestos exposure caused the decedent to develop mesothelioma, which led to his death. The trial court granted a no-evidence summary judgment in favor of ARCO, which the plaintiff appealed.

By way of background, the plaintiff alleged that the decedent had worked at ARCO’s plant from approximately 1967 to 1983 …

Continue Reading
Mesothelioma
Summary Judgment / Texas
Posted by:

Asbestos Snow Manufacturer Granted Partial Summary Judgment in its Successor-in-Interest Capacity

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division

The plaintiffs brought suit against Novelis Corporation, arguing that decedent Larry Petrie’s mesothelioma and death were caused by exposure to the defendant’s asbestos-containing product, Snow Drift, while decorating the family Christmas tree. The decedent and his family would throw the product on the tree, and he and his siblings would have snowball fights with it. Defendant Novelis moved for summary judgment on all of the plaintiffs’ claims.

Novelis argued that it is not liable …

Continue Reading
Discovery / Texas
Posted by:

Defendants’ Request of Sanctions for Plaintiffs’ Counsel Failure to Preserve Lung Tissue Denied

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, March 31, 2021

In this asbestos action, Mr. James LaFrentz (the decedent) wore a 3M dust mask while working for General Dynamics from 1978 until 1984. The issue of whether the decedent suffered from mesothelioma or lung cancer was in contention before his passing. Several defendants, including General Dynamics and 3M, informed the plaintiffs’ counsel that the decedent’s diagnosis was in dispute and requested that the plaintiffs’ counsel preserve the decedent’s tissue, both orally …

Continue Reading
Take-Home Exposure / Texas
Posted by:

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.…

Continue Reading
Texas / Verdict Reduction
Posted by:

Court Reverses Judgment Against Garlock Based on Causation, But Affirms Against Premises Owner

TEXAS – In Union Carbide Corporation and GST Settlement Facility v. Oscar Torres and Dora Torres, the Court of Appeals of Texas, Corpus-Christi-Edinburg ruled on an appeal filed by appellants GST Settlement Facility, successor-in-bankruptcy to Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC and Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) following a jury trial in favor of appellees. The appellees lawsuit alleged that Oscar Torres developed mesothelioma as a result of his exposure to asbestos while working at a UCC chemical plant with Garlock gaskets. UCC appealed based upon the …

Continue Reading
Gavel with books
Other Asbestos News / Punitive Damages / Texas
Posted by:

Denial of Texas County’s Jurisdictional Challenges Upheld on Appeal

TEXAS — In a case involving the mesothelioma death of a longtime jurist in Jefferson County, Texas attributed in part to asbestos remediation at the courthouse, a Texas Appellate Court affirmed the order of the trial court on all issues against defendant/appellant Jefferson County with the exception of the applicability of claims for exemplary damages, which were dismissed. Jefferson County filed an interlocutory appeal based on the trial court’s denial of its jurisdictional challenges. We have previously reported on the Appellate Court’s handling of the …

Continue Reading