United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana

Plaintiff Horace Bracy worked on ships for Lykes Brothers and then Avondale Industries in the late 1960s following his service in the Navy. He alleges he was exposed to asbestos from this work and brought the instant action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana after he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Avondale, and a couple of pump manufacturers, subsequently filed for summary judgment.

The moving defendants sought summary judgment on the ground that the plaintiff could not satisfy his burden of proof on causation because he failed to produce any expert report attributing his lung cancer to asbestos exposure. The plaintiff failed to file a response to defendants’ motions, and the unopposed motions were found by the court to have merit and were granted. The court stated that summary judgment was appropriate as a matter of law since the movant showed there is no genuine dispute of material fact. As the court held, to recover for asbestos exposure, the plaintiff “must show, by a preponderance of the evidence, he was exposed to asbestos, and he received an injury substantially caused by that exposure.”

Read the full decision here.