Case Decisions

Category: Case Decisions

July 17, 2017 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, State>Delaware, Summary Judgment

Summary Judgment Granted upon Plaintiff’s Failure to Establish Replacement Parts Supplied by Valve Defendant

Plaintiff brought this action against several defendants including Fairbanks Company alleging exposure to asbestos while working with Defendant’s valves. Specifically, Plaintiff recalled working with globe, gate and ball valves for various employers and locations. Plaintiff also testified that he replaced packing in the valves and personally removed external insulation to repair the valves. Plaintiff assumed …

July 14, 2017 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, State>Delaware, Summary Judgment

Plaintiff Fails to Demonstrate Decedent Worked with Boiler Manufacture’s Product; Summary Judgment Granted

Dorothy Charbonneau filed suit in the Superior Court of Delaware against multiple defendants alleging the defendants’ use of asbestos caused her husband, Robert Charbonneau, to contract an asbestos related disease. Mr. Charbonneau testified that he believed he was exposed to asbestos while maintaining and cleaning multiple boilers manufactured by Cleaver-Brooks throughout his employment career. Mr. …

July 12, 2017 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, State>California, Summary Judgment

Wrongful Death Claims Barred by Res Judicata from Prior Loss of Consortium Case

In this wrongful death case, plaintiff Janet Stewart appealed the grant of summary judgment to Union Carbide that her loss of consortium claim was barred by res judicata. The plaintiff also argued a miscarriage of justice in the setoff of her deceased husband’s settlement with two asbestos bankruptcy trusts against her entire economic damage award. …

July 12, 2017 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, Motions in Limine, Wisconsin

Various Rulings Issued on Motions in Limine in Trial; Plaintiffs’ Motion to Exclude Defense Experts Denied

The court issued various rulings on motions in limine filed by both the plaintiffs and defendant John Crane in this matter that is set for trial on July 17, 2017. The decedent died of mesothelioma. Many of the motions were unopposed. Below are summaries of the more pertinent rulings. Regarding the plaintiff’s motions, the plaintiff …

July 10, 2017 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, New York, Summary Judgment

Summary Judgment Overturned as Lab Suppliers Found to Have Burden of Causation

Plaintiff Eileen A. O’Connor was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma allegedly caused from exposure to equipment containing asbestos while working at a research lab from approximately 1975-79. The plaintiff filed suit in February 2015 against several defendants, including suppliers of various products used at this research lab. Supplier defendants moved for summary judgment arguing, among other …

July 5, 2017 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, Pennsylvania, Remand/Removal

Possibility of Successor Liability Enough to Defeat Diversity Jurisdiction

The plaintiffs alleged Maynard Herman contracted mesothelioma due to occupational asbestos exposure. Defendants removed on the basis of diversity, and the plaintiffs moved to remand. The court granted the remand. The defendants argued that defendant Ametek, Inc., although a citizen of Pennsylvania, was fraudulently joined to defeat diversity. The plaintiffs argued Ametek was not fraudulently …

June 30, 2017 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, Personal Jurisdiction

Registered Agents Found Not to be Enough to Establish Personal Jurisdiction

Plaintiff Willie Everett, resident of Missouri, brought suit in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis, claiming personal injuries after he allegedly inhaled, ingested, or otherwise absorbed asbestos fibers and/or asbestiform fibers emanating from certain products he was working with and around which were manufactured, sold, distributed, or installed by the defendants. The …

June 27, 2017 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, Pleadings Challenge, State>California

California Government Claims Act Bars Plaintiffs’ Asbestos Action for Untimely Commencement

Plaintiffs Sandra Reyes Jauregui and Mario Reyes Jauregui filed a first amended complaint against the City of Pasadena arising from Sandra Jauregui’s mesothelioma. The City demurred to the complaint, arguing that the plaintiffs failed to comply with the Government Claims Act, requiring presentation of the claim to the City within six months of the date …

June 27, 2017 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, Remand/Removal

Wrong Standard Applied in Remanding Case against Boiler Manufacturer to State Court; Remand Reversed

Decedent Joseph Morris worked as a shipbuilder at the Bethlehem Steel Sparrows Point Shipyard from 1948-1970s, and died of mesothelioma in 2015. The plaintiffs commenced this action in Maryland state court, and Foster Wheeler removed pursuant to government contractor immunity. The district court remanded to state court because Foster Wheeler did not make a sufficient …

June 27, 2017 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, Summary Judgment, Washington

Pfizer Not an “Apparent Manufacturer” of Refractory Products Used at Shipyard; Summary Judgment Affirmed

Plaintiff Margaret Rublee appealed the summary judgment dismissal against defendant Pfizer, Inc. The decedent, Vernon Rublee, was a machinist at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard from 1965-1980 and died of mesothelioma in 2015. The appellate court affirmed summary judgment for Pfizer. While at the shipyard, he worked on steam turbines with asbestos lagging. In replacing …