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Owens-Illinois denies asbestos conspiracy claim

March 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Quoted from http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9LV9URO1.htm

Owens-Illinois denies asbestos conspiracy claim

 

PERRYSBURG, Ohio

Major glass manufacturer Owens-Illinois Inc. said Monday it is disappointed by a jury verdict assessing more than $40 million in damages against it in a case of alleged injuries from asbestos.

Owens-Illinois said it will contest the verdict of a McLean County, Ill., jury if necessary in the state’s appeal courts. On Friday, the jury awarded the plaintiff, Charles Gillenwater, a total $90 million in damages against Owens-Illinois and three other companies: Honeywell International Inc., Pneumo Abex and John Crane Inc.

Gillenwater is said to have contracted mesothelioma while working as a pipe fitter in the 1970s at several locations, including Illinois State University, Bridgestone-Firestone and Eureka Co. He accused Owens-Illinois, Honeywell and Pneumo Abex of conspiring to conceal information about the health risks of asbestos from their employees, customers and others.

Mesothelioma, which is cancer in the lining of the chest or abdomen, is associated with exposure to asbestos.

[Article continues at original source]

Filed Under: Law, Lawsuits

Product labels are not hearsay, cancer victim’s family tells Calif. appeals court

January 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Quoted from http://westlawnews.thomson.com/California_Litigation/News/2011/01_-_January/Product_labels_are_not_hearsay,_cancer_victim_s_family_tells_Calif__appeals_court/

Product labels are not hearsay, cancer victim’s family tells Calif. appeals court

1/24/2011

A trial judge’s ruling that offering a product label as evidence the package contained the product noted on the label was inadmissible hearsay is an extreme, unsupportable reading of the law, plaintiffs in a California friction-products suit say.

The plaintiffs are surviving family members of a shade-tree mechanic who allegedly died of mesothelioma. They say his illness resulted at least in part from his exposure to asbestos in friction products made by defendant, Pneumo Abex LLC.

 

Donald Smalley’s wife and children sued Abex in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging he was exposed to asbestos in the company’s brake products. Smalley died of mesothelioma.

His sons, Michael and Mitchell, testified that they recalled accompanying their father to auto repair supply shops many times where he asked the clerks for Abex products. They also said they recalled seeing him using brakes in Abex-labeled boxes.

 

The defendant said the Smalleys were unable to prove product identification because the only evidence connecting their products to Donald Smalley’s activities was from Michael and Mitchell’s testimony, which should be inadmissible as hearsay.

 

Judge Amy D. Hogue agreed that a product’s labeling could not be used to accurately identify the manufacturer of a particular product.

[Article continues at original source]

Filed Under: Exposure, Law, Lawsuits

Travelers Ordered to Pay $500 Million to Johns Manville Asbestos Victims

December 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Quoted from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-16/travelers-must-pay-for-johns-manville-s-asbestos-settlements-judge-rules.html

Travelers Ordered to Pay $500 Million to Johns Manville Asbestos Victims

By Tiffany Kary – Dec 16, 2010 1:11 PM ET

Travelers Cos. must immediately pay about $500 million to asbestos victims under a settlement made six years ago in the bankruptcy of Johns Manville Corp., a judge ruled.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland in Manhattan said in an order signed today that his ruling should resolve a dispute over whether a U.S. Supreme Court ruling reversed an earlier order over the settlements, among Travelers Indemnity Co. and Travelers Casualty & Surety Co., for their work as insurers to Johns Manville.

“The Court will resolve this narrow dispute that has gone on for too long, especially for those asbestos victims who have yet to be fully compensated,” Lifland said.

Johns Manville, once the nation’s largest maker of asbestos, filed for bankruptcy in 1982. In June 2009, the Supreme Court overturned a ruling that allowed suits against units of Travelers by people harmed by exposure to asbestos.

“Just as the Supreme Court has barred parties from bringing suit against Travelers based on the plain language of the 1986 orders, Travelers should likewise be bound by the plain language of the settlements, and should be compelled to comply with its payment obligations,” Lifland wrote.

The case is In re Johns Manville Corp., 82-11656, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

Filed Under: Claims, Law, Lawsuits

Asbestos claims continue to rise

December 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Quoted from http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/10/3089792.htm

Asbestos claims continue to rise

Posted Fri Dec 10, 2010 8:44am AEDT

The latest figures from the New South Wales Dust Diseases Board reveals that payouts for the asbestos caused disease mesothelioma are continuing to increase.

The board grants no-fault compensation to workers who contracted a dust disease, so that if they die their dependents can be supported.

It paid out $75 million in the last financial year.

The Dust Diseases Board reports that the most common, and deadly asbestos disease, mesothelioma has risen for the third year in a row.

There were 64 cases in 1992, but in 2010 there were 145.

The board was set up 80 years ago to help workers with silicosis but asbestos diseases now make up 90 per cent of its work.

The Dust Diseases Tribunal, which hears cases involving negligence, is receiving 300 to 400 asbestos claims a year.

Filed Under: Claims, Lawsuits

Federal loan to give certainty to asbestos victims

December 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Quoted from http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/07/3086671.htm

Federal loan to give certainty to asbestos victims

Updated December 7, 2010 11:45:00

The Federal Government has announced it will lend up to $160 million to the New South Wales Government to help compensate James Hardie asbestos victims.

The money will be matched by the NSW Government and go into the asbestos injuries compensation fund.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer David Bradbury says the loan means some sufferers can now be compensated before they die.

“The purpose of this loan is to assist New South Wales in being able to ensure that sufficient funds are made available in that compensation fund,” he said.

“[The loan will] give victims and their families, victims of James Hardie-related asbestos injury, to give them the certainty and the peace of mind of knowing that their compensation claims will be paid, and paid in full.”

[Article continues at original source]

Filed Under: Claims, Lawsuits

Widow seeks information about husband’s cancer death from Cobham colleagues

November 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Quoted from http://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/8637310.Widow_seeks_information_about_husband_s_cancer_death/

Widow seeks information about husband’s cancer death from Cobham colleagues

Monday 15th November 2010

The widow of a former Surrey plumber, thought to have died of asbestos-related cancer, is appealing for his work mates to come forward with information to help her battle for justice.

Doctors diagnosed mesothelioma, an aggressive chest cancer, in William Victor Panes, 78, in June this year.

He died four months later, on October 11. It is thought Mr Panes was exposed to asbestos while working as a plumbing and heating engineer for several local firms in Cobham and Woking, from the age of 14.

Although the companies Mr Panes worked for in the 1940s and 50s have ceased trading it is still possible to pursue legal claims through the employers’ insurers.

Helen Grady, a workplace illness expert from Irwin Mitchell solicitors, said: “Although no amount of money can truly compensate for the death of a loved one, it is important to continue the fight for justice begun by Mr Panes, to find out how he came to be exposed to asbestos fibres.”

To do this it is very important to hear from Mr Panes’ former colleagues, who may have important information about working practices at the time.

Mr Panes recalled asbestos being loaded into particular work sites by the lorry load, like bags of flour. He also remembered having to mix up asbestos and cut through lagged asbestos pipes as part of his day-to-day work.

Mrs Grady said he worked for TG Burns between 1962 and 1981 and for Steers between 1952 and 1962, building a new secondary school in Cobham.

Anyone able to assist should contact Helen Grady at Irwin Mitchell Solicitors on 0870 1500100 or email helen.grady@irwinmitchell.com.

Filed Under: Claims, Facts, Lawsuits

Judge Asks Appeals Court to Uphold $7 Mil. Asbestos Verdict Against No-Show Defendant

November 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Quoted from http://thelegalintelligencer.typepad.com/tli/2010/11/judge-asks-appeals-court-to-uphold-7-mil-asbestos-verdict-against-no-show-defendant.html

 

Judge Asks Appeals Court to Uphold $7 Mil. Asbestos Verdict Against No-Show Defendant

By Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal Staff

Thursday, November 04, 2010

A Philadelphia judge has asked the state Superior Court to uphold a $7 million damage award for a plaintiff against a defendant that failed to appear at trial.

Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Senior Judge Sheldon C. Jelin, writing in a Sept. 30 opinion explaining his reasoning to the appellate court, said that Melrath Supply and Gasket Co. and Melrath Gasket Inc., of Philadelphia, did not defend themselves in a bench trial in Russell v. A.W. Chesterton Co.

 

The Legal reported Sept. 28 that Jelin upheld a $10 million award in another case, Schroeder v. Anchor Darling Valve Co., in which the Melrath defendants did not defend themselves.

Russell went to trial Feb. 9 on the heels of an order by Judge Sandra Mazer Moss, the coordinating judge of Philadelphia’s mass torts Complex Litigation Center, that all defenses available to the Melrath defendants were stricken when they defied the discovery process. The Melrath defendants also did not appear to present a defense at trial.

[Article continues at original source]

Filed Under: Law, Lawsuits

Texas Supreme Court rejects provision in law that protects one company from asbestos claims

October 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Quoted from http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-TXsup_23bus.ART.State.Edition1.248da13.html


Texas Supreme Court rejects provision in law that protects one company from asbestos claims

12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, October 23, 2010

By ERIC TORBENSON / The Dallas Morning News

etorbenson@dallasnews.com

The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that a law specifically designed to protect one company from older asbestos claims was unconstitutional.

The ruling in favor of a plaintiff was a bit of a surprise from the court, which has been criticized by trial lawyers for siding more often with business defendants in these kinds of cases.

 

The court threw out a provision included in Texas’ tort reform legislation that was intended to protect Crown Cork & Seal Co.

 

The legislation adopted in 2003 was designed to rein in trial verdicts that some argued were excessive; the new law limits damage awards in many cases and has effectively shut down practice areas for injury lawyers, such as medical malpractice cases.

 

During debate over the legislation, specific language limiting Crown’s liability in asbestos lawsuits was added. When the law was enacted, Crown used the new statute to dismiss claims from Barbara Robinson, whose husband had died from an asbestos-related illness.

 

[Article continues at original source]

Filed Under: Law, Lawsuits

3rd Circuit Rules Some Asbestos Cases Are Pre-Empted

September 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Quoted from http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202472179138

3rd Circuit Rules Some Asbestos Cases Are Pre-Empted

Shannon P. Duffy

The Legal Intelligencer

September 17, 2010

Railroad workers cannot pursue state law-based personal injury claims stemming from occupational exposure to asbestos because such claims are pre-empted by the federal Locomotive Inspection Act, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.

The 3rd Circuit’s ruling could create something of a legal conundrum, however, because the court explicitly rejected a contrary holding by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that has been on the books for three decades.

As a result, trial judges in the federal courts will now be bound by the 3rd Circuit’s decision in Kurns v. A.W. Chesterton Inc., while trial judges in the Pennsylvania state courts will continue to be bound by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s 1980 decision in Norfolk & Western Railway Co. v. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.

Writing for a unanimous three-judge panel in Kurns, U.S. Circuit Judge Michael A. Chagares found that the “express purpose” of the Federal Railroad Safety Act was “to maintain, not decrease, federal uniform regulation of the railroad industry.”

As a result, Chagares said, “we reject the rationale of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s Norfolk & Western opinion” that the FRSA narrowed the scope of the LIA’s pre-emption of state laws and regulations regarding locomotive equipment.

[Article continues at original source]

Filed Under: Claims, Law, Lawsuits

Pfizer’s Quigley Unit Is Denied Permission to Exit Bankruptcy by Judge

September 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Quoted from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-08/pfizer-s-quigley-unit-is-denied-permission-to-exit-bankruptcy-by-judge.html

Pfizer’s Quigley Unit Is Denied Permission to Exit Bankruptcy by Judge

By Tiffany Kary – Sep 8, 2010 1:33 PM ET

Pfizer Inc.’s Quigley unit, a former asbestos maker, was denied permission to exit bankruptcy by a judge who found the world’s largest drug company manipulated the bankruptcy process to benefit itself.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart M. Bernstein in New York today rejected Quigley’s fourth reorganization plan and said parties should discuss dismissal of the case. He said the plan was filed in “bad faith” by Pfizer and cited testimony that asbestos claims directed at Quigley could total $4.45 billion over the next 42 years.

“In a nutshell, Pfizer bought enough votes to assure that any plan would be accepted,” Bernstein wrote.

 

In a 90-page ruling that covers Pfizer’s failed attempts to deal with its growing asbestos liabilities since June 1985, Bernstein noted that a lawyer who represented both Quigley and Pfizer settled claims against Quigley and got releases for Pfizer at no additional cost.

Settling claimants were then given a financial incentive to vote in favor of Quigley’s bankruptcy plan through a series of legal moves before and after the bankruptcy filing, the judge wrote.

“We are disappointed in the court’s ruling as we continue to believe that Pfizer has no liability for Quigley’s conduct,” a Pfizer spokesman, Chris Loder, said in a telephone interview.

Bernstein also denied a motion to seal settlements of asbestos liabilities among Pfizer, Quigley and law firms.

[Article continues at original source]

Filed Under: Claims, Law, Lawsuits Tagged With: , , ,
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