Michigan Court of Appeals: Asbestos Cases

Our case-law library holds 8 asbestos decisions from the Michigan Court of Appeals (1985–2008). Each links to our summary and the full opinion.

• State: Michigan
• Kind of court: State appeals court

Decisions

• Grand Trunk Western Railroad, Inc. v. 37th Circuit Court Judge (2008). On remand from the Michigan Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals denied Grand Trunk Western Railroad's complaint for superintending control, so the trial court could try the two asbestos cases at once before separate juries; one judge dissented.
• Chapin v. A & L Parts, Inc. (2007). The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's ruling admitting plaintiffs' expert Dr. Lemen's causation testimony, so DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors and Honeywell lost their challenge to the Chapins' expert evidence (one judge dissented).
• Jaqua v. Canadian Nat. RR, Inc. (2007). The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's denial of summary disposition and held that the release Jaqua signed barred his estate's FELA claim against Canadian National Railroad for his lung cancer, so the railroad won.
• Beaudrie v. Anchor Packing Co. (1998). The Court of Appeals affirmed the circuit court's orders on remand, which let the employers and the dust fund keep their workers' compensation liens against the widows' wrongful death recoveries, and the widows lost on every point they raised.
• Allen v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. (1997). The Court of Appeals affirmed the jury verdict for the plaintiff estate against Owens-Corning Fiberglas, holding that excluding evidence of other asbestos exposures was error but harmless, and that the directed verdict and warning rulings were not error.
• Faulkner Const. v. Silicosis Fund (1997). The Court of Appeals affirmed the Workers' Compensation Appellate Commission's ruling that the Silicosis, Dust Disease, and Logging Industry Compensation Fund was not liable, because employer Faulkner Construction and its insurer Wausau had not shown that peritoneal mesothelioma threatened its industry.
• Beaudrie v. Anchor Packing Co. (1994). The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's application of the compensation fund's lien to loss-of-consortium damages, reversed it as to the recoveries of the decedents' adult nondependent children, and held the fund waived its cross-appeal about the allocation of settlement proceeds.
• Larson v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp. (1985). The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for the defendants (Johns-Manville Sales Corp. and Fibreboard Corp.) in all four wrongful death actions, holding them time-barred and leaving the plaintiffs without recovery.