New York Supreme Court: Asbestos Cases

Our case-law library holds 493 asbestos decisions from the New York Supreme Court (1984–2025). Each links to our summary and the full opinion.

• State: New York
• Kind of court: State trial court

Decisions

• American Home Assur. Co. v. Port Auth. of NY & NJ (2017). The court denied American Home's motion for partial summary judgment and granted the Port Authority's, Alcoa's and Tishman's motions in part, declaring that coverage was triggered, the fireproofing claims were not a single occurrence, the policy was not exhausted, and the duty to defend survived exhaustion.
• Carilli v. AO Smith Water Prods. Co. (2017). The court granted non-party Trane's motion to the extent of quashing defendant Burnham LLC's trial subpoena for a Trane witness, denied Trane's request for costs, and directed Burnham to use Trane's interrogatory answers at trial under the CMO.
• Cunningham v. Aerco Intl. (2017). The court granted in part the plaintiffs' motion to consolidate eleven asbestos cases, ordering four joint-trial groups of two or three cases each and separate trials for the Keith and Reno cases over the defendants' objections.
• Evans v. 3M Co. (2017). The court denied the defendants' omnibus motion in limine to preclude plaintiffs' causation experts and denied a Frye hearing, so plaintiffs (Jeanne Evans, estate and spouse) prevailed over remaining defendant Burnham.
• Gallen v. Aerco Intl., Inc. (2017). The court granted settled party Clyde Union's motion, quashed defendant The Fairbanks Company's trial subpoena for a Clyde Union witness, and allowed Fairbanks to use Clyde Union's interrogatory answers and deposition at trial under the CMO.
• Appleton v. Allied Signal (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2017). The court granted the plaintiffs' motion in part, consolidating the Appleton and Howell cases for a joint trial and ordering the Watts, Kertesz and Vanderhall cases tried individually, over the defendants' opposition.
• Brooks v. AIR & LIQUID SYSTEMS CORPORATION (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2017). The court granted in part the plaintiffs' motion to consolidate eighteen asbestos actions for trial, ordering six consolidated groups of two or three plaintiffs and trying five other plaintiffs individually, over the defendants' opposition.
• Brown v. Consolidated Edison Co. of New York (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2017). The court denied plaintiff Phyllis Brown's proposed judgment, which would have made Con Edison liable for Keasbey's 35 percent share, and accepted Con Edison's counter-judgment capping its liability at 30 percent.
• Carilli v. CRANE CO. (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2017). The court granted settled party Crane Co.'s motion, quashed defendant Burnham LLC's trial subpoena for a Crane representative, and allowed Burnham to use Crane's interrogatory answers and deposition at trial under the June 20, 2017 case management order.
• Aquitato v. AMCHEM PRODUCTS, INC. (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2017). The court granted the plaintiffs' motion to consolidate in part, grouping some living and some deceased plaintiffs for joint trials and ordering the rest tried individually over the defendants' objections.
• Cerutti v. Baruffaldi S.P.A. (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2017). The court denied Baruffaldi's motion to appeal the Special Master's recommendation and for a protective order, and confirmed the recommendation that Baruffaldi produce a witness on New York sales; plaintiffs won.
• Macaluso v. A.O. Smith Corp. (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2017). The court granted the plaintiffs' motion only to consolidate the Macaluso and Flood cases for trial, denied consolidation of the Story and Fleigner cases, which are to be tried separately, and ordered the trial sequence, over the defendants' opposition.
• Altman v. Ford Motor Co. (In re New York City Asbetos Litigation) (2017). The court granted plaintiffs' motion to consolidate in part: Altman and Hofstetter were to be tried together, Barber, Egri and Moynihan were to be tried together, and DeStefano, Fox, Baginski and Evans were to be tried separately.
• Klock v. Albany Intl. Corp. (Onondaga, 2017). The court denied the plaintiffs' joint motion to consolidate the McIntosh and Gaumes asbestos actions for a July 2017 trial, so the defendants, including Vanderbilt Minerals, prevailed on the motion.
• Konstantin v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. (2017). The court granted plaintiff's motion to amend the complaint to add a declaratory judgment claim against all insurers and a tortious interference claim against Resolute, and denied the amendment to add a GBL § 349 claim against the Resolute Defendants.
• Matter of New York City Asbestos Litig. (2017). The Coordinating Judge issued a case management order setting procedures for all NYCAL asbestos personal injury and wrongful death cases, superseding earlier orders effective July 20, 2017; no party won or lost.
• Trumbull v. American Biltrite (Matter of New York City Asbestos Litig.) (2017). The court granted American Biltrite (Amtico)'s motion and dismissed plaintiffs Richard and Margaret Trumbull's claims against it for lack of general and specific personal jurisdiction.
• Fogel v. American Int'l Indus. for Clubman (Matter of New York City Asbestos Litig.) (2017). The court granted the motions of defendants Unilever (Brut) and Whittaker Clark & Daniels, reversed the Special Master's decision placing plaintiff in the in extremis cluster, and ordered the case moved to the next FIFO cluster.
• Montanez v. Beck/Arnley Worldparts (Matter of New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2017). The court granted Beck/Arnley Worldparts, Inc.'s motion for summary judgment and dismissed the complaint and cross-claims against it, because plaintiffs failed to show continuity of ownership needed for successor liability.
• Matter of Schwartz v. AO Smith Water Prods. (2017). The court granted non-party CertainTeed's motion, unopposed, only to the extent of quashing Duro Dyne's trial subpoena for a corporate witness, denied the rest, and let Duro Dyne use CertainTeed's interrogatory answers and deposition testimony under the case management order.
• Seabridge v. Kelsey-Hayes Co. (Albany, 2017). The trial court denied Kelsey-Hayes Company's motion for summary judgment, finding a material issue of fact about whether it contributed to Robert Miles's injury and death, so the plaintiffs' claims against it continue.
• Snedeker v. Arvinmeritor, Inc. (Broome, 2017). The trial court denied ArvinMeritor's (Rockwell's) motion for summary judgment dismissing the plaintiffs' complaint and cross-claims, finding it had not met its initial burden and that material fact issues remained.
• Barbarino v. BASF Catalysts, LLC (2016). The court granted plaintiff Joan Barbarino's motion for a default judgment on liability against R.C.A. Rubber Company, which never appeared, and referred the amount of damages to a special referee.
• Hernandez-Vega v. Air & Liquid Sys. Corp. (2016). The court denied Flowserve's summary judgment motion on the valve claims, finding it did not meet its burden and fact issues remained for the jury, but dismissed plaintiff's claims relating to Rockwell pumps because Flowserve never made them.
• Battistoni v. ITW Food Equipment Group (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2016). The trial court denied defendant ITW Food Equipment Group LLC's motion for summary judgment in its entirety, so plaintiff Dario Battistoni's claims continue.
• LoGiudice v. Colgate-Palmolive Co. (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2016). The court affirmed the Special Master's recommendation and denied plaintiff Keri LoGiudice's motion for relief, leaving Colgate-Palmolive without having to answer her Notice to Admit or her supplemental document request 11.
• DeMartino v. Aurora Pump Co. (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2016). The court denied Aurora Pump Company's motion for summary judgment against plaintiffs Patrick and Joy DeMartino and directed the parties to proceed with discovery before the Special Master.
• Bartolone v. Union Carbide Corp. (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2016). The court denied Union Carbide's motion for summary judgment in its entirety, so plaintiff's estate's claims against Union Carbide go forward to trial.
• South v. Texaco (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2016). The court denied Texaco's motion for summary judgment and sanctions, finding Texaco had not shown that Mason South understood his 1997 release covered a future mesothelioma claim, and ordered plaintiff's counsel to disclose the settlement amount.
• Jackson v. 84 Lumber Co. (Onondaga, 2016). The trial court granted some and denied or reserved most of the defendants' (Union Carbide, Crane, Domco, Fairbanks) motions in limine, allowing plaintiff's state-of-the-art and specific-causation expert testimony and denying a Frye hearing at this stage.
• Acosta v. Avocet Enterprises (Matter of New York City Asbestos Litig.) (2016). The court granted the plaintiffs' motion to consolidate in part, ordering joint trials of Acosta and Smith (Group 1) and of Clark, Guerra and Votta (Group 2), and refusing to consolidate Battistoni's case with the others, over the defendants' objections.
• Feinberg v. Colgate-Palmolive Co. (Matter of New York City Asbestos Litig.) (2016). The trial court denied Colgate-Palmolive's motion for summary judgment in its entirety, so the Feinbergs' claims over Arlene Feinberg's mesothelioma go forward.
• Cicio v. American Biltrite (Matter of New York City Asbestos Litig.) (2016). The court denied the plaintiffs' motion to consolidate the Cicio, Keeny and Matuk mesothelioma cases for a joint trial, so American Biltrite and Kaiser Gypsum prevailed and the cases will be tried individually.
• Koulermos v. O'Connor Constructors (Matter of New York City Asbestos Litig.) (2016). The court denied O'Connor Constructors' motion for summary judgment dismissing plaintiff Koulermos's claims and all cross-claims, because O'Connor only pointed to gaps in plaintiff's proof and offered no affirmative evidence.
• Miller v. Hennessy Indus. (Matter of New York City Asbestos Litig.) (2016). The court denied Ammco's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and upheld the liability findings for plaintiff Walter Miller, but vacated the $25 million pain and suffering award and ordered a new damages trial unless plaintiff stipulated to a reduced award.
• DePriest v. Crane Co. (Matter of New York City Asbestos Litig.) (2016). The trial court denied Crane Co.'s in limine motion to preclude plaintiffs' medical experts from giving specific causation testimony and denied its request for a Frye hearing, so plaintiffs may offer the testimony.
• Warren v. Amchem Prods., Inc. (2016). The court denied defendant J-M Manufacturing's motion to vacate the Special Master's recommendation, which held that J-M waived attorney-client privilege over both versions of its 1983 memo, so the plaintiff estate prevailed on the motion.
• Assenzio v. AO Smith Water Prod. (2015). The court granted the plaintiffs' motion and extended their time to stipulate to the reduced damage awards until fourteen days after the Appellate Division decides the Peraica appeal, over the objection of defendants Cleaver-Brooks and Burnham.
• Assenzio v. AO Smith Water Prods. (2015). The court extended plaintiffs' time to stipulate to reduced verdict amounts to 60 days from this order, but denied their requests to renew and reargue their opposition to defendants' post-verdict motion; Cleaver-Brooks and Burnham largely prevailed.
• Assenzio v. AO Smith Water Prods. Co. (2015). The trial court denied the motions by defendants Cleaver-Brooks and Burnham to compel post-verdict disclosure of settlement agreements and amounts with individual companies and bankruptcy trusts, so the plaintiffs prevailed.
• Brown v. Bell & Gossett Co. (2015). The court denied the administratrix's motions to renew and reargue her opposition to Con Edison's post-trial motion, so Con Edison kept its win setting aside the Labor Law § 200 verdict and the reduction of the loss of consortium award, except that the earlier waiver finding was vacated.
• Erickson v. Air & Liquid Sys. Corp. (2015). The court denied the motions of CBS Corporation (Westinghouse) and General Electric for summary judgment based on Montana's statute of repose, so the plaintiffs' claims against both defendants continue.
• Gonzales v. AO Smith Water Prods. Co. (2015). The court denied Crane Co.'s motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint and all claims and cross-claims against it, finding fact issues for trial.
• Koulermos v. Treadwell Corp. (In re New York City Asbestos Litig.) (2015). The court denied Treadwell Corporation's summary judgment motion to the extent it sought dismissal of co-defendant National Grid's cross-claims, and held the motion moot as to the plaintiffs' own claims, which they had withdrawn opposition to.
• Hernandez-Vega v. Fisher Controls Int'l (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2015). The court denied Fisher Controls' motion for summary judgment on plaintiff Hernandez-Vega's claims, but dismissed the breach of warranty, market share liability and concert of action counts, and denied dismissal of the punitive damages count with leave to renew.
• Ricci v. Cleaver-Brooks (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2015). The court denied Cleaver-Brooks' motion for summary judgment dismissing plaintiff Mark Ricci's complaint and all claims and cross-claims against it, so the plaintiff won and the case goes to trial.
• Ricci v. Crane Co. (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2015). The court denied defendant Crane Co.'s motion for summary judgment dismissing plaintiff Mark Ricci's complaint and all claims and cross-claims against it.
• Cuzzolino v. A.O. Smith Water Prods. (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2015). The court granted the plaintiffs' motion to consolidate eight asbestos actions into three groups for joint trial, over the defendants' objections.
• Brady v. Crane Co. (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2015). The court granted plaintiffs' motion to consolidate 13 asbestos cases for joint trial only in part: it ordered joint trials for Miceli and Ward, for Carey, Falkenmeyer and Frick, and for Nash and Pettinelli, and ordered Miller, Brady, McCormick, Morgan, Castorina and Padula tried separately, over defendants' objections.
• Flahive v. 3M Co. (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2015). The court granted plaintiffs' motion to consolidate in part, joining the Flahive and Germain actions for one trial and the Izbicki and Jalowski actions for another over defendants' opposition, but ordered the Valensi action tried separately.