Real-Time Court Decisions and Other Developments in Asbestos Litigation.
JURISIDICTION: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Plaintiff brought this action on behalf of her deceased husband, Jerry Graves, who passed away from mesothelioma. She alleges that Mr. Graves died as a result of his exposure to asbestos at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) between 1977 and 2010. Throughout that time, …
Supreme Court of New York, New York County In this asbestos action, Plaintiff Joseph Murawski alleged that he was exposed to asbestos from tile manufactured by defendant American Biltrite (“the defendant”) from 1963 to 1985. The defendant moved for summary judgment on general and specific causation grounds. First, the court rejected the defendant’s arguments regarding …
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 …
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The D.C. Court of Appeals asked the Supreme Court of Maryland to answer the following question.) “Under Maryland law, in a strict liability design defect claim, must a plaintiff who alleges that she was injured as a bystander (in contrast to a “user” or “consumer” as defined in Valk Manufacturing Company v. Rangaswamy, …
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Plaintiffs allege their decedent, Michael P. Dandry, Jr., died from mesothelioma after working with asbestos-containing products at Avondale Shipyard in 1971. They moved in limine to preclude any mention, questions, or comments before the jury regarding collateral sources of income or payments such as “income …
Plaintiff Andrew Curtin sued Johnson & Johnson and Pecos River Talc in federal court in Maine, alleging his late wife Cynthia Cartwright died from mesothelioma caused by her longtime use of J&J baby powder. The defendants moved for partial summary judgment, arguing that elements of certain claims cannot be met and that other claims are …
George Stephenson v. PK&P Investment Co. f/k/a Mole-Richardson Co., Ltd., et al. Plaintiff George Stephenson brought an asbestos personal-injury action against the company formerly known as Mole-Richardson Co., alleging that his mesothelioma was caused by exposure to asbestos-containing theatrical and studio lighting equipment manufactured and supplied by Mole-Richardson. Stephenson, age 80, an Army veteran and …
Marcella v. Huntington Ingalls 81-year-old Ronald Marcella was diagnosed in 2023 with cancer and died three months later. A post-mortem examination by Dr. Brent Staggs confirmed it was asbestos-related mesothelioma. The decedent’s wife and children sued the successor company to Avondale Shipyards, where the plaintiff had worked from 1962 to 1964. The jury, after 80 …
Jurisdiction: California Plaintiff Stephen Anderson filed a talc-related asbestos suit in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming he contracted mesothelioma. Anderson allegedly experienced exposure from, among other potential sources, asbestos in the talc that was used on him as a child and that he personally used between 1984 and 2007. Defendant was served in …
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Plaintiffs — the estates of deceased former residents of Libby, Montana — allege that their decedents developed mesothelioma from asbestos exposure. The decedents lived in Libby during years when BNSF Railway transported asbestos-containing vermiculite mineral from a vermiculite mine to its railyard in Libby for …