In this case, the decedent, James McIndoe, was alleged to have been exposed to asbestos pipe insulation while serving aboard the USS Coral Sea, built by Huntington Ingalls Inc., from 1961–63 and the USS Wordern, built by Bath Iron Works Corporation from 1966-67. The case was removed to federal court under the federal officer removal statute, and Huntington and Bath moved for summary judgment. The district court granted the motions “on the grounds that the ships were not products for purposes of strict liability and that the heirs could not establish a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether the shipbuilders were responsible for installing any asbestos-containing insulation that caused McIndoe’s injuries.” The plaintiffs appealed.
The court of appeals affirmed the lower court’s decision. Regarding the plaintiffs’ claims of strict product liability, the court held: “We therefore agree with the district court that McIndoe’s heirs cannot sustain an action for strict products liability premised upon the notion that the warships in question are themselves ‘products’ under maritime law. Accordingly, the heirs may prevail only under a theory of negligence.” Regarding the negligence claims, the court rejected the plaintiffs’ expert, Dr. Allen Raybin’s, every exposure opinion, and held: “Notwithstanding the declaration of Dr. Raybin, McIndoe’s heirs failed to put forward evidence demonstrating that McIndoe was substantially exposed to asbestos from the shipbuilders’ materials for a substantial period of time. The heirs have established no genuine issue of fact regarding whether any such exposure was a substantial factor in McIndoe’s injuries, and thus they cannot prevail on their general negligence claims.”