Real-Time Court Decisions and Other Developments in Asbestos Litigation.
United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, July 21, 2022 In this asbestos action, defendant Honeywell International Inc., f/k/a Allied Signal Inc. as successor-in-interest to The Bendix Corporation filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. Plaintiff failed to respond to Honeywell’s motion. A district court has personal jurisdiction over a …
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, July 20, 2022 In this asbestos action, decedent Callen Cortez was diagnosed with mesothelioma following occupational and take-home exposure to asbestos. As relevant to the motion, plaintiff’s complaint alleged that former suppliers and distributors Eagle and McCarty were liable as manufacturers as a “professional vendor,” …
Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division, First Department, July 19, 2022 On July 19, 2022, the First Department reversed three New York City Asbestos Litigation (“NYCAL”) decisions that denied summary judgment to Defendant, American Biltrite, Inc. (“ABI”), finding that the plaintiffs could not prove specific causation, and thus summary judgment to ABI was in …
Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division, First Department, July 19, 2022 In 2017, Plaintiff Donna Olson (“Plaintiff”) filed suit against Johnson & Johnson (J&J), claiming that her lifelong use of J&J talcum powder exposed her to asbestos and caused her to develop mesothelioma. After a 12-week jury trial in 2019, a New York City …
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana; July 18, 2022 Plaintiffs filed an asbestos-related lawsuit on behalf of Decedent, Callan Cortez, alleging that Mr. Cortez contracted mesothelioma as a result of exposure to asbestos, and subsequently died. The relevant exposure claimed by Mr. Cortez was take-home exposure from his brother, Daniel, who …
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin , July 13, 2022 Plaintiffs Trisha and David Babler filed a lawsuit to recover damages Trisha allegedly sustained as a result of “take-home” asbestos exposure from her father, who was employed at Soo Line Railroad Company (SLR). Plaintiffs named Sprinkmann Sons Corporation as a defendant “based on …
United States District Court for the Northern District of California, July 11, 2022 Plaintiff, Frank Shelton, filed an asbestos-related lawsuit alleging his exposure to asbestos from various defendants’ products while he served in the Navy from approximately the mid-1960s to the early 1970s caused him to contract mesothelioma. During his service, plaintiff worked as a machinist mate while stationed …
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, July 8, 2022 In this asbestos matter, the defendant ViacomCBS Inc. (“Westinghouse”) moved for partial summary judgment as to Decedent Callen Cortez’s claims arising from alleged exposure to asbestos from Westinghouse’s turbines, arguing that the plaintiffs could not establish that Decedent was exposed to a Westinghouse …
New Jersey Supreme Court, June 30, 2022 In this asbestos action, decedent Willis Edenfield (“Edenfield”) commenced a failure to warn product liability action against defendant Union Carbide. The Appellate Division vacated the jury’s verdict for Plaintiff and remanded for a new trial. However, the New Jersey Supreme Court reversed the Appellate Division’s decision. The Supreme …
The current wrongful death statute in New York, which has been in place since 1847, may get a revamp in the coming months. Senate Bill S74A, also known as the Grieving Families Act (“the Act”) is currently awaiting Governor Kathy Hochul’s signature. Full language of the statute is available here. If signed, the Act will expand …