The plaintiffs filed an action in the Superior Court of Delaware against defendant CertainTeed Corporation alleging that the plaintiff, Jack Trousdale, was exposed to asbestos from CertainTeed’s products. The plaintiffs contend that Mr. Trousdale purchased a flat-bed tractor trailer in 1972 to work as an independent truck driver, and as part of his job Mr. Trousdale shipped CertainTeed pipe. The plaintiffs presented evidence that the defendant sold asbestos-cement pipe from Ambler, Pennsylvania from 1962 through 1982.
CertainTeed filed a motion for summary judgment. The court applied Indiana law to the plaintiff’s claims. To avoid summary judgment under Indiana law, the plaintiff “must produce evidence sufficient to support an inference that he inhaled asbestos dust from the defendant’s product.” This inference can only be made if it is shown that the product, as it was used during the plaintiff’s tenure at the job site, could possibly have produced a significant amount of asbestos dust and that the plaintiff might have inhaled the dust.” “However, an inference is not reasonable when it rests on no more than speculation or conjecture.”
The defendant argued the plaintiff’s description with the alleged piping was inconsistent with CertainTeed products. Additionally, CertainTeed argued that the plaintiffs have not met their burden under Indiana law, which requires that they prove Mr. Trousdale was exposed to the defendant’s product and that product “produced a significant amount of asbestos dust and that the plaintiff might have inhaled the dust.”
The court found that the plaintiffs met their product identification burden. The defendant’s argument regarding the alleged discrepancies in Mr. Trousdale’s description of the defendant’s asbestos pipes, and the defendant’s description of the pipes, are issues of fact appropriate for the jury. The plaintiffs further demonstrated that genuine disputes of material facts exist that the plaintiff’s work produced a significant amount of asbestos dust pursuant to Indiana’s causation standard. Thus, the court denied motion for summary judgement on all allegations prior to 1982. Mr. Trousdale testified that he did not haul CertainTeed pipe out of another plant except for the one in Pennsylvania, and CertainTeed presented evidence that it stopped manufacturing asbestos cement pipe at the Ambler, Pennsylvania plant in 1982. As a result, summary judgment was granted regarding any allegations after 1982.