HARRISBURG, Pa. - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Nov. 6 agreed to decide whether an expert's testimony regarding cumulative exposures to asbestos goes beyond "every exposure" testimony and whether consolidated trial prejudices defendants (Richard Rost and Joyce Rost v. Ford Motor Co., No. 309 EAL 2014/56 EAP 2014; See May 21, 2014, Page 5)....(read more)![]()
Pennsylvania Court Accepts Review In 'Every Exposure,' Trial Consolidation Case
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Asbestos MDL Judge Issues Order To Show Cause On Severance Of Punitive Damages
PHILADELPHIA - The federal asbestos multidistrict litigation judge on Nov. 12 issued an order to show cause, asking plaintiffs in six cases involving 17 defendants whether the court should discontinue severance of punitive damages claims (In re: Asbestos Products Liability Litigation [No. VI], MDL 875, E.D. Pa.)....(read more)![]()
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California Court Rejects Strict Liability Take-Home Asbestos Liability Case
SAN FRANCISCO - The First District California Court of Appeal on Nov. 6 denied writ of mandate to a defendant challenging whether a duty analysis applies in a strict liability case alleging exposure to asbestos, according to its docket (Kaiser Gypsum Company Inc. v. Superior Court of California for the County of San Francisco, No. A143265, Calif. App., 1st Dist.; See 11/5/14, Page 5)....(read more)![]()
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Judge: If Asbestos Plaintiffs Can 'Untangle' Exposures, They May Proceed
MADISON, Wis. - To the extent that plaintiffs can "untangle" community asbestos exposures from those barred by workers' compensation statutes, they may proceed with nuisance claims against an employer, a Wisconsin federal judge held Nov. 4 in partially granting reconsideration (Milton Boyer and Kathy Boyer v. Weyerhaeuser Co., et al., No. 14-286, Richard Masephol v. Weyerhaeuser Co., et al., No. 14-186, Janet Pecher, et al. v. Weyerhaeuser Co., et al., No. 14-147, Virginia Prust, et...(read more)![]()
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Handful Of Alleged Exposures Falls Short Of Pennsylvania Standard, MDL Judge Says
PHILADELPHIA - The handful of alleged asbestos exposures a plaintiff can point to from a linotype machine over a 15-year career falls short of Pennsylvania's causation standard, the federal asbestos multidistrict litigation judge held in an opinion posted Nov. 3 (Donna Palmer v. Heidelberg USA Inc., et al., No. MDL 875, 12-5034, E.D. Pa.)....(read more)![]()
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Justice Finds Generalized Testimony Sufficient Where Evidence Of Asbestos Exists
NEW YORK - Generalized testimony regarding cleaning up debris suffices where there is evidence that the debris included asbestos-containing products, and whether a specific defendant is responsible for those products is question for a jury, a New York justice held Oct. 23 (Lisette Dorfman, as executrix of the estate of Linton Dorfman, and Lisette Dorfman v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., et al., No. 190214/13, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.; 2014 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 4700)....(read more)![]()
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Federal MDL Judge Finds Exposure Evidence Lacking
PHILADELPHIA - While a man's evidence places original insulation aboard a ship, it fails to establish that the product contained asbestos, the federal asbestos multidistrict litigation judge held in an opinion posted Nov. 3 (Dale M. Shelly v. Asbestos Corp. Ltd., et al., No. MDL 875, 11-67799, E.D. Pa.)....(read more)![]()
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Divided Louisiana Court Affirms $3.8 Million Asbestos Verdict
BATON ROUGE, La. - A judge's "kind statements" from the bench do not indicate that her $3.8 million asbestos verdict includes damages unavailable in a survival action, a divided Louisiana appeals court held Nov. 10 (Dorothy Carter White, et al. v. Entergy Gulf States Louisiana LLC, et al., No. 2013 CA 1608, La. App., 1st Cir.; 2014 La. App. LEXIS 2712)....(read more)![]()
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Justice: Statute Of Limitations Bars Claim By Woman Diagnosed With Meso At 24 Years Old
JOHNSTOWN, N.Y. - A woman's epithelial mesothelioma was the same disease she was diagnosed with in 2002, making her 2012 suit untimely, a New York justice held Nov. 5 (Linda Wells v. Abex Corp., et al., No. 48156/12, N.Y. Sup., Schenectady Co.)....(read more)![]()
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Retired Man's Death Benefits Properly Based On Last Year Of Work, Court Says
RALEIGH, N.C. - Where a man develops and dies of an occupationally related asbestos disease after retiring because of an unrelated disease, death benefits may be based on his last year of work, a North Carolina appeals court affirmed Nov. 4 (Shirley Lipe, et al. v. Starr Davis Company Inc., et al., No. COA14-90-2, N.C. App.; 2014 N.C. App. LEXIS 1127; See 7/16/14, Page 24)....(read more)![]()
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Appeals Judge Rejects 'Either/Or' Causation Ruling In Veteran's Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Framing the question of whether a former serviceman's asbestosis arose only from exposures during his military service ignores the possibility that both military and private exposures led to the disease, a Veterans Claims judge held in remanding a case on Oct. 31 (Archie A. Naramore v. Robert A. McDonald, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, No. 13-2758, U.S. App., Vet. Clms.)....(read more)![]()
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Bankruptcy Judge Issues Directions On Unsealing Garlock Estimation Record
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A North Carolina federal bankruptcy judge on Oct. 31 issued an order unsealing the entire record in last year's hearing to estimate the total asbestos liability of Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC and outlining the protocol to be used to make sure certain personal information is redacted from all documents (In re: Garlock Sealing Technologies, LLC, No. 10-31607, W.D. N.C. Bkcy.)....(read more)![]()
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Asbestos Committee Says Garlock Committed Fraud At Its Estimation Hearing
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The committee representing asbestos claimants in Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC's bankruptcy case on Nov. 7 accused Garlock of fraudulently withholding evidence for last year's hearing to estimate Garlock's asbestos liability and asked a North Carolina federal bankruptcy court to reopen the hearing. Garlock responded the same day, saying that the committee's request should be denied because the committee had access to the evidence in question and fails to rebut...(read more)![]()
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Asbestos Firms Say Reichhold Loan Proposal Prejudices Claimants
WILMINGTON, Del. - A proposal by new Chapter 11 debtor Reichhold Holdings US Inc. to obtain post-petition financing for a restructuring plan improperly prejudices the interest of asbestos personal injury claimants by granting control over insurance policies to lenders, an ad hoc committee of asbestos plaintiffs' law firms says in an objection to the proposal filed Oct. 20 in Delaware federal bankruptcy court (In re: Reichhold Holdings US, Inc., et al., No. 14-12237, D. Del. Bkcy.)....(read more)![]()
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Non-Traditional Asbestos Litigation: New Products And Industries In The Crosshairs
By Susan E. Van Gelder and Arlow M. Linton In the early 1980s, when Johns-Manville and most of the other asbestos-containing product manufacturers went bankrupt, plaintiffs' firms looked for new targets and shifted their focus onto suppliers and equipment manufacturers alleging that they, too, were responsible to warn against the dangers of asbestos. Since that shift, the vast majority of asbestos cases involve a plaintiff diagnosed with a malignancy filing suit against suppliers and equipment...(read more)![]()
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Mealey's PI/Product Liability - Judge Rejects Motion For Recusal In Florida Tobacco Trial For Magazine Comments
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - An Iowa federal judge assigned to hear a tobacco injury suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on Nov. 17 denied a motion by Philip Morris USA Inc. to recuse himself because of his public comments praising the actions of trial lawyers (William Starbuck v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., et al., No. 3:09-CV-13250-WGY-HTS, M.D. Fla.)....(read more)![]()
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Mealey's Labor & Employment - 6th Circuit: City Does Not Owe Firefighters Wages For Training Time
CINCINNATI - A Tennessee city does not owe its firefighters wages for time they spent in training for a paramedic certification even though they are required to complete the certification within a set amount of time to keep their jobs, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Nov. 14 (Jon Misewicz, et al. v. City of Memphis, Tennessee, No. 14-5053, 6th Cir.; 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 21619)....(read more)![]()
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Mealey's PI/Product Liability - Health Insurer: Endo Paid Impax $112M To Delay Selling Generic Opana ER
BATON ROUGE, La. - Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana on Nov. 17 filed a class action complaint in federal court, alleging that Endo Health Solutions Inc. paid a competitor at least $112 million to delay a generic drug until Endo could market a new, crush-resistant formula (Louisiana Health Service & Indemnity Company, et al. v. Endo Health Solutions, Inc., et al., No. 14-721, M.D. La.)....(read more)![]()
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Mealey's Toxic Tort/Environmental - 4th Circuit Consolidates Fracking Lawsuits Filed By West Virginia Residents
RICHMOND, Va. - The clerk of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 18 issued an order consolidating two lawsuits filed by landowners in West Virginia who contest the validity of oil and gas leases they entered into with a company seeking to use hydraulic fracturing on their land. The two groups of plaintiffs seek to compel the company to comply with discovery requests (Floyd Barber, et al. v. Magnum Land Services LLC, et al, No. 14-2248; Richard Bell, et al. v. Magnum Land Services LLC...(read more)![]()
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Mealey's Banking & Finance - Federal Judge Refuses To Grant Relief, Dismisses Claims Against Wells Fargo
DANVILLE, Va. - A Virginia federal judge on Nov. 17 dismissed the majority of a property owner's claims against a bank and a law firm in relation to the foreclosure of a property but allowed his claim for breach of the loan agreement to proceed (James T. Luther v. Wells Fargo Bank N.A., et al., No. 4:13-cv-00072, W.D. Va.; 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 161001)....(read more)![]()
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