Asbestos Case Tracker

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June 11, 2019 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Pennsylvania, Pleadings Challenge

Asbestos Multidistrict Litigation Judge Rejects Pre-Daimler Third Circuit Authority Finding Personal Jurisdiction Based on Registration as a Foreign Corporation

PENNSYLVANIA – In Re Asbestos Products Liability Litigation, Jackie Sullivan, Executrix of the Estate of John L. Sullivan v. A.W. Chesterton, Inc., et al., the Asbestos multidistrict litigation court recently ruled on a motion to dismiss filed by a defendant. The court granted the motion as it concluded that the court lacked personal jurisdiction over …

June 10, 2019 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Summary Judgment, Washington

Steam Trap Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Motion to Exclude Evidence Denied

WASHINGTON – As recently reported on the Asbestos Case Tracker on May 22 and May 28, 2019, in Varney v. Air & Liquid Systems Corporation, et al., the court ruled on several of the defendants’ motions for summary judgment. The plaintiff, Donald Varney, filed suit against numerous defendants alleging exposure to asbestos while working as …

June 7, 2019 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Asbestos Litigation Analysis, Washington

Auto Parts Supplier’s Personal Jurisdiction Motion Denied

WASHINGTON – The plaintiff’s decedent, Rudie Klopman-Baerselman, was a merchant mariner, serving aboard several vessels while allegedly working with and around asbestos-containing products. The plaintiff additionally alleged that Klopman-Baerselman performed all maintenance and friction work on his vehicles for 30 years, and that he purchased asbestos-containing gaskets, brakes, and clutches from the Defendant, NAPA, contributing …

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June 7, 2019 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Maryland, Massachusetts

More Asbestos Talc Cases Remanded to State Court

Consistent with the recent decisions of federal courts in Pennsylvania and California, district courts in Maryland and Massachusetts this week remanded the mesothelioma cases of Plaintiffs Carol Kerkhof and Lorraine O’Riorden to their respective state courts. Defendant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) had removed these actions to federal court, asserting that the pending bankruptcy of its …

June 5, 2019 • Asbestos Case Tracker, New Jersey, Pleadings Challenge

Lack of Specific Personal Jurisdiction Leads to Dismissal of Alleged Successor to Joiner Contractor

NEW JERSEY – The plaintiff filed suit against multiple defendants alleging her decedent developed mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos containing products used or installed by the defendants including, RBC Sonic. It was alleged that Robert Fish was exposed to asbestos panels installed by a joiner contractor while working at the New York Shipbuilding and Drydock …

June 4, 2019 • Asbestos Case Tracker, New York, Punitive Damages

New York City Asbestos Litigation Verdict Against Johnson & Johnson Includes $300 Million Punitive Damages Award

NEW YORK – Johnson & Johnson (J&J) was hit with a $300 million punitive damages award on May 31, 2019, after a jury found the company responsible for a woman’s development of mesothelioma after decades of use of J&J talc bath products. In Donna A. Olson v. Brenntag North America Inc., et al., the jury …

June 4, 2019 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Louisiana, Remand/Removal

Motion to Remand or Sever Claims Ruled Premature

LOUISIANA – In March 2017, the plaintiffs filed a lawsuit alleging that decedent, Wayne Knight, who developed mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos while employed by Avondale Shipyard from 1967 to 1982. Avondale removed the case in October 2018, pursuant to the federal officer removal statute. The plaintiffs then filed a motion to sever …

May 31, 2019 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Pennsylvania, Remand/Removal

Outcome of Instant Matter Would Not Impact Non-Party Talc Supplier’s Pending Bankruptcy Estate, Remand Ordered

PENNSYLVANIA – The defendant Johnson & Johnson (J&J), in a topic that has been extensively covered by the Asbestos Case Tracker, indicated in its notice of removal that this case is one of many in the United States which involve claims concerning personal injuries and deaths allegedly caused by J&J’s cosmetic talc. J&J’s motion further indicates …

May 31, 2019 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Other Asbestos News, Washington

Plaintiffs’ Post-Sale Failure-To-Warn Theory of Negligence Unpersuasive; Defendants’ Motions for Judgment as Matter of Law Granted

WASHINGTON – The instant matter arises from the decedent Patrick Jack’s alleged exposure to asbestos-containing products through his work as an automotive mechanic, a machinist in the Navy, and a machinist and inspector at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Jack sued multiple companies, alleging that his exposure to asbestos caused him to develop mesothelioma. Jack passed away …

May 30, 2019 • Asbestos Case Tracker, Illinois, Other Asbestos News

Exclusive Remedy Defense Eliminated in Illinois for Latent Injury Claims

ILLINOIS – In 2015, the Illinois Supreme Court held in Folta v. Ferro Engineering, 43 N.E. 3d 108 (2015), that the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act and Workers’ Occupational Disease Act was the exclusive remedy for state employees who contract mesothelioma, or another latent disease or injury. May 2019 in enacting Illinois SB 1596, the Illinois …