http://www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys/news.aspx Headline Asbestos Legal News from LexisNexis® en-us http://www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys/images/lexismealeyslogo.gif 130 29 http://www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys/news.aspx Copyright 2020 http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=35-1%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%201%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - A New Jersey jury on Feb. 6 awarded $750 million in punitive damages - which the judge immediately reduced to $187.5 million - after a previous jury found that asbestos in Johnson & Johnson talc products caused four plaintiffs' mesothelioma and awarded them $37.3 million, sources told Mealey Publications (Douglas Barden, et al. v. Brenntag North America, et al., No. MID-L-1809-17, N.J. Super., Middlesex Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=35-1%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%202%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' ST. LOUIS - A $4.69 billion asbestos-talc ovarian cancer verdict was not the prejudicial mess of improperly admitted experts, misapplied standards and a confused jury portrayed by Johnson & Johnson, plaintiffs in Missouri told a state appeals court on Dec. 19 (Gail Ingham, et al. v. Johnson & Johnson, et al., No. ED 107476, Mo. App., Eastern Dist.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=35-1%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%203%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' ALAMEDA, Calif. - A more than $29 million asbestos-talc verdict came as a result of unfounded expert testimony based on testing of vintage bottles that were likely contaminated during decades of storage, Johnson & Johnson told a California appeals court Jan. 15 (Teresa Leavitt, et al. v. Johnson & Johnson, Nos. A157572, A159021, Calif. App., 1st Dist., Div. 5). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=35-1%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%204%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LOS ANGELES - A woman is not entitled to a new trial on her claims against Johnson & Johnson based on a federal regulatory agency's announcement that it discovered asbestos fibers in some bottles of talc nine days after the verdict, a Los Angeles County judge said Jan. 29, according to court documents (Carolyn Weirick v. Brenntag North America, et al., No. BC656425, Calif. Super., Los Angeles Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=35-1%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%205%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LOS ANGELES - Johnson & Johnson and a host of other suppliers and distributors specifically defined talcum powder as including carcinogens, violating California law requiring warnings on products of a carcinogenic nature, a Jan. 29 California Proposition 65 lawsuit alleges (Jan Graham v. Bausch Health Companies Inc., et al., No. N/A, Calif. Super., Los Angeles Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=35-1%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%206%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - A magistrate judge didn't err in declining to consider an untimely affidavit in an asbestos-friction case against Honeywell International Inc. or in ordering it to produce records of pre-2002 asbestos litigation it faces, a federal judge in Kentucky said Jan. 30 (Jack Papineau, et al. v. Brake Supply Company Inc., et al., No. 18-168, W.D. Ky., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15472). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=35-1%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%207%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - A film editing machines company must produce models in its possession for testing, even though the plaintiff's testing of a machine purchased online showed the presence of asbestos, a New York justice held in an opinion posted Feb. 5 (Eric Slonim, et al. v Altman Stage Lighting Co., et al., No. 190339/2017, N.Y. Sup., New York Co., 2020 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 360). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=35-1%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%208%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SAN FRANCISCO - A trial judge properly rejected a friction product company's attempt to use a job title and location to argue that a woman's mesothelioma more likely arose from her father's shipyard work than her direct handling of brake products, a couple argues in a Jan. 20 brief in a California appellate court (Barbara Barr, et al. v. Parker-Hannifin Corp., et al., No. A156632, Calif. App., 1st Dist.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=35-1%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%209%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PHILADELPHIA - At trial, a man will produce nothing but inadmissible evidence, speculation and the rejected market-share theory of liability in an asbestos case, a quartet of defendants argue in Feb. 7 pretrial memoranda filed in Pennsylvania federal court (John R. Blystone, et al. v. Owens Illinois Inc., et al., No. 18-1165, E.D. Pa.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=35-1%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2010%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW ORLEANS - A broad 1985 settlement of a pneumoconiosis case released a shipyard of any and all claims, including survival claims arising from a mesothelioma diagnosis more than three decades later, the majority of the Louisiana Supreme Court said Jan. 29 (Gistarve Joseph Sr., et al. v. Huntington Ingalls Inc., et al., No. 2018-CC-02061, La. Sup.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=35-1%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2011%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - Flaws in affidavits from a corporate representative and two experts preclude granting summary judgment, a justice in New York held in an opinion posted Jan. 31 (Susan Rivera, et al. v 3M Co., et al., No. 190360/2017, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=35-1%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2012%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WASHINGTON, D.C. - A judge in New York on Feb. 4 granted an unopposed motion, sealing various portions of Garrett Motion Inc.'s recently filed complaint alleging that Honeywell International Inc. burdened it with an illegal and unenforceable asbestos indemnity agreement (Garrett Motion Inc., et al. v. Honeywell International Inc., et al., No. 657106/2019, N.Y. Sup., Comm. Div.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=35-1%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2013%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - A company's concession that it included asbestos in thermosetting plastics used in the electrical industry during the time in question overcomes summary judgment, a New York justice held Jan. 21 while declining to consider untimely evidence (Susan Rivera, et al. v. 3M Co., et al., No. 190360/2017, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=35-1%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2014%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW ORLEANS - A shipyard's second attempt at removing an asbestos case is neither untimely nor barred by the previous remand order, a federal judge in Louisiana said Jan. 28 in keeping the case in federal court. Meanwhile, a different judge in the same court on Dec. 20 held a remand motion in abeyance while the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals considers whether negligent workplace safety allegations fall outside the federal officer removal statute (Callen Dempster, et al. v. Lamorak Insurance Co., et al., No. 20-95, E.D. La., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14400, Carrie Mae Caballero v. Avondale Industries Inc., et al., No. 19-12356, E.D. La., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 218990). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=35-1%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2015%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BALTIMORE - Two asbestos law firms continue their bitter battle over referral fees in the wake of a jury's $1.5 million award, with one alleging a case-long strategy of bad-faith conduct and the other suggesting that a "zeal" for damages drove the case. The plaintiff filed a sealed motion for attorney fees on Feb. 6, according to the court docket (Keyes Law Firm v. Napoli Bern, et al., No. 17-2972, D. Md.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=35-1%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2016%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PLAINTIFF http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%201%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - Johnson & Johnson and four plaintiffs focused on testing in the opening rounds of the punitive damages phase of a New Jersey asbestos-talc case on Jan. 15. A jury hit the company with a $37.3 million verdict in September 2019 (Douglas Barden, et al. v. Brenntag North America, et al., No. MID-L-1809-17, N.J. Super., Middlesex Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%202%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW ORLEANS - A Louisiana jury in October 2019 awarded $8,214,479.35 to the widow and four children of a man exposed to asbestos as an insulator, sources told Mealey Publications (Elray Lege, et al. v. Union Carbide, et al., No. 2016-5598, La. Dist., Orleans Parish). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%203%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 17 agreed to decide whether a defendant can be subject to personal jurisdiction in a state even where none of its forum contacts caused the alleged injuries, an issue closely watched in the asbestos litigation context (Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court, et al., No. 19-368, U.S. Sup.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%204%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SEATTLE - Allegations that a company shipped asbestos-containing purifiers and replacement parts to Washington shipyards are enough to create personal jurisdiction in the state, a federal judge said Jan. 22 (Charlotte Wineland, et al. v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., et al., No. 19-793, W.D. Wash., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10912). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%205%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW ORLEANS - Despite recent Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals developments, precedent still calls for remanding cases involving allegations that a shipyard failed to warn about the dangers of asbestos or provide a safe workplace, federal judge in Louisiana said Jan. 10 (Denis Schexnayder Jr. v. Huntington Ingalls Inc., et al., No. 19-11773, E.D. La., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5907). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%206%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PHILADELPHIA - The viability of a 1980 asbestos case docketed in Michigan federal court, litigated before an Ohio federal judge and eventually transferred and dismissed by a federal judge in Pennsylvania came before the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 13 (In re: Asbestos Products Liability Litigation (No. VI), Creighton Miller v. Sea-Land Service Inc., et al., No. 18-2165, 3rd Cir.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%207%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - Plaintiffs' premature disclosure of the deposition testimony of Johnson & Johnson's chief executive officer warrants an award of fees and costs, a New York justice held Jan. 17. But whether the plaintiffs are entitled to depose more company employees is a question for the special master, he said (Donald Minassian, et al. v. Brenntag North America, et al., No. 190399/2018, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%208%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LOS ANGELES - A trial court did not err in rejecting a couple's challenges to expert testimony that talc was free of asbestos, and because they offered no competing expert testimony, the judge properly granted summary judgment, a California appeals court held Jan. 22 (Ann Patrice Gibbons, et al. v. Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., No. B288031, Calif. App., 2nd Dist.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%209%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - Evidence showing that a talc miner supplied three separate consumer talc manufacturers keeps it in an asbestos suit, even in light of what the defendant believes is contradictory evidence, a New York justice held in an opinion posted Jan. 17 (Sharon Rothlein, et al. v. American International Industries for Clubman, et al., No. 190374/2016, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2010%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' ST. LOUIS - The 60-to-1 disparity between an asbestos-talc plaintiff's time and exposure in Tennessee over her time in Missouri helps tip the balance in favor of transfer, a federal judge in the later state said Jan. 21 (Shawnee D. Douglas v. Imerys Talc America Inc., et al., No. 18-1141, E.D. Mo., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9523). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2011%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SEATTLE - The argument that Washington's statute of repose becomes inapplicable because a contractor also sold asbestos-containing insulation would not apply to the general contractor and would produce an absurd result where almost no contractor fell under the statute's protections, a company tells a Washington appeals court in an Oct. 29 response (Cindy Maxwell, et al. v. Brand Insulations Inc., et al., No. 53252-2 II, Wash. App., Div. II). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2012%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' MILWAUKEE - The state's statute of repose bars asbestos claims arising from the construction of two power plants, and nothing in its application constitutes retroactive application or violates constitutional remedy protections, a Wisconsin appellate panel said Jan. 22 (Jacqueline Nooyen, et al. v. Wisconsin Electric Power Co., et al., No. 2019AP289, Wis. App., Dist. 3). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2013%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Asbestos plaintiffs produced evidence of frequent, regular and proximate contact with window and door products and that the products could release asbestos, but not that they did under the specific use in question, an Illinois court held Jan. 21 in reversing a more than $5 million verdict (Jeff Krumwiede, et al. v. Tremco Inc., No. 4-28-0434, Ill. App., 4th Dist., 2020 Ill. App. LEXIS 27). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2014%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - A man's testimony that he believed that he and his father worked with Kaiser Gypsum Co. Inc. joint compound came from contemporaneous statements and matches company interrogatories, placing it within the present-sense impression exception to hearsay, a New York justice held Jan. 16 in denying summary judgment to the company (Frank M. Salzano, et al. v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp., et al., No. 190446/2014, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2015%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW ORLEANS - Defendant Ford Motor Co. was in the best position to know who owned the land on which its dealership operated, and asbestos plaintiffs present believable explanations for their delayed attempt at naming the true owner, a federal magistrate judge in Louisiana said Jan. 21 in allowing an amended complaint (Keith Michel, et al. v. Ford Motor Co., et al., No. 18-4738, E.D. La., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9595). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2016%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LOS ANGELES - After giving itself until February to decide, the California Supreme Court on Jan. 15 declined to review a case in which the lower court found that a judge's grant of a new trial corrected his error in entering judgment for a defendant (LAOSD Asbestos Cases, No. S259113, Calif. Sup.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2017%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' HARRISBURG, Pa. - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Jan. 22 declined to wade into the question of whether a man's family presented sufficient evidence of exposure to asbestos in fire doors (Marc Lee Lamson, et al. v. Georgia-Pacific LLC, et al., No. 1459 EDA 2018, Pa. Sup.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2018%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Having never previously suggested that producing records of pre-2002 asbestos litigation posed a burden, Honeywell International Inc. cannot reasonably rely on the argument in a motion for reconsideration, a federal magistrate judge in Kentucky said Jan. 6 (Jack Papineau, et al. v. Brake Supply Company Inc., et al., No. 18-168, W.D. Ky.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2019%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - Jury instructions failed to convey that an alleged bribery scheme involving asbestos case referrals must include an understanding of the specific topic on which the quid pro quo is to take place, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said Jan. 21 in partially reversing the conviction of former New York Speaker Sheldon Silver (United States, et al. v. Sheldon Silver, No. 18-2380, 2nd Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 1737). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2020%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A newly formed affiliate of frequent asbestos personal injury defendant CertainTeed LLC filed a Chapter 11 petition on Jan. 23 in North Carolina federal bankruptcy court looking to permanently resolve CertainTeed's asbestos liabilities through establishment of a settlement trust (In re DBMP LLC, No. 3:20-bk-30080, W.D. N.C. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2021%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - A couple's asbestos personal injury claims against Chapter 11 debtor Kaiser Gypsum Co. Inc. will be heard in New York state court; a federal judge on Jan. 15 remanded the case because the debtor removed it too late (Anna Nocelli, et al. v. Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc., et al., No. 1:19-cv-1980, S.D. N.Y., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9025). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-24%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2022%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PLAINTIFF http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-23%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%201%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' ST. LOUIS - A St. Louis jury on Dec. 20 returned a verdict for Johnson & Johnson in a case in which the plaintiff claimed that asbestos in the company's talc product led her to develop ovarian cancer (Vickie Forrest v. Johnson & Johnson, et al., No. 1522-CC00419-01, Mo. Cir., St. Louis Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-23%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%202%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILMINGTON, Del. - A juror admitted during voir dire to lightly researching an asbestos case, and there is no evidence suggesting that it impeded the jury's ability to perform its task, John Crane Inc. told a federal judge in Delaware Nov. 22 in opposing a motion for new trial or investigation (Johanna Elaine Evans, et al. v. John Crane Inc., No. 15-681, D. Del.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-23%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%203%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' HOUSTON - Plaintiffs need not demonstrate a doubling of risk of disease where the claims involve exposure solely at a premises owner's facility, a Texas appeals court said Dec 19 while finding that sufficient evidence supports the conclusion that the defendant controlled a worksite and knew generally of the danger of asbestos (Union Carbide Corp., et al. v Oscar Torres, et al., No. 13-10-00325-CV, Texas. App., 13th Dist.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-23%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%204%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' CHICAGO - An Illinois appellate panel on Dec. 19 affirmed that nothing in jury instructions improperly led a jury to award $6 million in an asbestos case against John Crane Inc. (Sharon Daniels, et al. v John Crane Inc., et al., No. 1-19-0170, Ill App., 1st Dist.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-23%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%205%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - Liability for asbestos-containing replacement parts requires more that simply stating that a defendant's product appeared in the same workplaces as the exposed individual, a federal judge in Connecticut held Jan. 7 (Kurt Carlson, et al. v. CBS Corp., et al., No. 17-1916, D. Conn.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-23%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%206%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW ORLEANS - A state school system is an arm of the state and protected from an asbestos action by sovereign immunity, a federal judge in Louisiana said Jan. 6 (Carey Gomez v. Aardvark Contractors Inc., et al., No. 18-4186, E.D. La., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1333). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-23%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%207%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' GRETNA, La. - A trial court erred in relying on evidence not admitted into the record when finding that a previous asbestos action did not toll the prescription period, a Louisiana appeals court held Dec. 20 in vacating the ruling (Carl J. Calamia Jr., et al. v. The Parish of Jefferson, et al., No. 19-CA-270, La. App., 5th Cir., 2019 La. App. LEXIS 2401). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-23%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%208%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - Allegations that a boiler maker had specific knowledge about the dangers of asbestos and took steps to prevent the spread of that information support failure-to-warn and punitive damages claims, a New York justice held in an opinion posted Jan. 7 (Simeon Leben, et al. v. A.O. Smith Water Products Co., et al., No. 190228/2016, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-23%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%209%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' NEW YORK - A floor tile manufacturer cannot escape an asbestos action simply by pointing to flaws in the plaintiff's evidence and expert witness testimony, a justice in New York held in an opinion posted Dec. 13 (Ralph Lanza, et al. v. American Biltrite, et al., No. 190014/2014, N.Y. Sup., New York Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-23%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2010%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' LOS ANGELES - The plaintiffs' only evidence a decedent was exposed to asbestos consists of the possibility that joint compound containing asbestos was included in debris he cleaned up, Union Carbide Corp. told a California appeals court Dec. 24 in defending summary judgment in its favor (Jovana Collantes, etc., et al. v. Elementis Chemicals Inc., et al., No. B295278, Calif. App., 2nd Dist.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-23%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2011%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' OXFORD, Miss. - An automobile company on Jan. 6 asked a federal judge to exclude two experts and grant it summary judgment in an asbestos case just weeks after a federal magistrate judge in Mississippi precluded it from deposing one of the plaintiffs (William Bedford, et al. v American Honda Motor Co. Inc., No. 18-175, N.D. Miss.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-23%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2012%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - New Mexico spent millions of dollars treating cancers caused by talcum powder marketed towards minorities despite industry knowledge about the presence of asbestos in the products, the states alleges in a Jan. 2 lawsuit (State of New Mexico, et al. v. Johnson & Johnson, et al., No. N/A, N.M. 1st Jud. Dist., Santa Fe Co.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-23%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2013%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' CHICAGO - An appellate court improperly ignored precedent and failed to perform a meaningful analysis before finding that sufficient evidence supported conspiracy claims in an asbestos case, a divided Illinois Supreme Court held Dec. 19 (John Jones, et al. v. Pneumo Abex, et al., Nos. 123895, 124002, Ill. Sup.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-23%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2014%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PHILADELPHIA - Federal law preempts claims involving alleged exposure to asbestos during refurbishing of locomotive parts, a federal judge in Pennsylvania said Jan. 9 (Martin Shields v. General Electric Co., et al., No. 18-2421, E.D. Pa., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3340). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-23%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2015%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' HONOLULU - There is no conflict of interest where attorneys who helped plaintiffs settle asbestos claims against Cleaver-Brooks Inc. now represent those same plaintiffs in an action accusing the company of fraudulently concealing evidence during discovery, a federal judge in Hawaii said Dec. 19 in denying a motion to disqualify (Terry N. Agena, et al. v. Cleaver-Brooks Inc., et al., No. 19-89, D. Hawaii, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 221235). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-23%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2016%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge in California on Jan. 9 granted a motion by asbestos plaintiffs and BorgWarner Morse TEC LLC to continue the company's motion for sanctions over the untimely cancellation of a deposition (In re Toy Asbestos Litigation, No. 19-325, N.D. Calif.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-23%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2017%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' WILMINGTON, Del. - Paddock Enterprises LLC on Jan. 6 became the latest corporate victim to using asbestos in products, with the company filing a Chapter 11 petition in Delaware federal bankruptcy court after a December restructuring of the world's largest glass bottle manufacturer left it holding all asbestos liabilities from the parent's production of thermal insulation products in the 1950s (In re Paddock Enterprises, LLC, No. 20-10028, D. Del. Bkcy.). http://www.lexis.com/research/xlink?canceldest=form&keyenum=25271&keytnum=0&searchtype=get&search=34-23%20Mealey%27s%20Litig.%20Rep.%20Asb.%2018%20(2020)&view=full&ORIGINATION_CODE=00144 target='_blank' PLAINTIFF