Case Decisions

Category: Case Decisions

June 28, 2016 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, Consolidation, New York

Highest Court of New York Refuses to Consider Defendant’s Argument That Joint Trial was Improper Because Defendant Failed to Preserve Issue for Appeal

In the 1970s, the plaintiff’s decedent, Dave John Konstantin, worked as a carpenter at two Manhattan construction sites where defendant Tishman Liquidating Corporation (TLC) was the general contractor. The decedent died of mesothelioma in 2012. This case was assigned with nine other cases to an in extremis trial calendar; all 10 plaintiffs were represented by …

June 27, 2016 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, Summary Judgment, Wisconsin

Summary Judgment Reversed Where Court Finds Genuine Dispute as to Fraudulent Transfer of Assets

The plaintiff filed this personal injury lawsuit under theories of negligence and strict liability following the death of her husband from mesothelioma. The plaintiff maintained that her husband was exposed to asbestos-containing products allegedly manufactured and/or sold by Fire Brick Engineers Company, Inc. (FBE Company) from approximately 1963-69. In approximately 1983, Fire Brick Engineers Corporation …

June 23, 2016 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, Expert Challenges, Louisiana, Summary Judgment

Preclusion of Plaintiff’s Causation Expert Upheld on Appeal Due to Failure to Consider Decedent’s Smoking History

The plaintiffs, Dwayne Bourdeaux, Gerilyn Cook, and Bryan Bourdeaux, Individually and as Proper Parties in Interest for Gerald Bourdeaux, filed suit in Louisiana alleging that Gerald Bourdeaux lung cancer diagnosis and eventual death was asbestos exposure. In support of this claim, the plaintiffs offered Dr. Gerald E. Liuzza, a pathologist, as an expert witness to …

June 23, 2016 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, Expert Challenges, Motions in Limine, State>Florida

Federal Court Limits Plaintiff’s Expert, Dr. William Longo’s, Testimony

The plaintiff, Marsha K. Dugas, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Darryl S. Dugas, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division, alleging that Darryl Dugas developed mesothelioma from his exposure to asbestos during the late 1960s and early 1970s, while serving in the U.S. Navy and …

June 21, 2016 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, Illinois, State, State>Illinois

Distinction Between Physical Harm and Physical Injury Key in Reversal of Trial Court’s Denial of Directed Verdict

The plaintiffs sued defendant Tremco, Inc. alleging asbestos exposure from tape used in the plaintiff’s profession as a plasterer. The plaintiffs alleged the development of pleural plaques and interstitial fibrosis. The jury found in favor of the plaintiffs, and Tremco appealed. The appellate court reversed the trial court’s judgment, finding that the court should have …

June 21, 2016 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, New York

$6.25 million Jury Verdict In NYCAL Case Against Boiler Manufacturers

On June 13, 2016 a NYCAL jury awarded plaintiff $6.25 million for the death of the decedent, Vincent Geritano, who had been diagnosed with mesothelioma. The only defendants remaining at trial were Burnham and Crown Boiler Co. The jury found Burnham liable, but not Crown. Burnham was assessed 9 percent liability, with several other entities sharing the …

June 20, 2016 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, Summary Judgment

Ninth Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment for Pump Defendants on Evidence of Supply of Asbestos Containing Gaskets and Packing to U.S. Navy

John H. Boyd, III, as the representative of the plaintiff and appellant Captain John H. Boyd, Jr. (deceased), appealed to the Ninth Circuit the District Court for the Central District of California’s granting of summary judgment in favor of Warren Pumps, LLC, and Air and Liquid Systems Corporation (successor in interest to Buffalo Pumps, Inc.) …

June 17, 2016 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, Pennsylvania, Verdict Reduction

Pennsylvania Federal Court Denies Defendant’s Motion to Mold Verdict and Grants Plaintiff’s Motion to Apply Delay Damages to Compensatory Damages

The plaintiff-decedent, Valent Rabovsky, and his wife Ann Rabovsky filed suit in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, claiming that the plaintiff-decedent, who had worked as a millwright in the 1950s, developed malignant mesothelioma from work-related exposure to asbestos and asbestos containing products, which were produced, manufactured, and/or distributed by various defendants (Case was …

June 14, 2016 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, Connecticut, Remand/Removal, State, State>Connecticut

Magistrate Judge Recommends Remand to State Court; Removal was Timely, but Defendant Failed to Establish Two of Four Elements of Federal Officer Statute

The plaintiffs filed this personal injury suit in Delaware after the plaintiff Donnie Wines was diagnosed with mesothelioma. Both plaintiffs died before the suit was completed, and their personal representative was substituted. Defendant Rockwell Automation Inc. removed to federal court. The plaintiff filed a motion to remand, arguing: (1) that the notice of removal was …

June 10, 2016 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Case Decisions, Summary Judgment

Court Declines to Address Causation Standard In Upholding Summary Judgment on Trial Court’s Less Burdensome Standard

Plaintiff Patricia Grant and the Estate of Edward Grant appealed from summary judgments entered against them on their complaint for damages for Edward Grant’s lung cancer and death based on negligence, failure to warn of defective, unreasonably dangerous goods, and loss of consortium. Summary judgment was granted on the motions of New England Insulation Company …