U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit: Asbestos Cases

Our case-law library holds 66 asbestos decisions from the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit (1973–2024). Each links to our summary and the full opinion.

• Kind of court: Federal appeals court

Decisions

• Halphen v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp. (1984). The Fifth Circuit affirmed the jury verdict for the plaintiff widow, Emma Jean Halphen, against Johns-Manville Sales Corp. (one judge dissenting).
• Hansen v. Johns-Manville Products Corp. (1984). The Fifth Circuit affirmed the jury's liability findings for the widow, Beatrice Hansen, against Johns-Manville, but held the compensatory and punitive awards excessive and remanded for a remittitur (accepted or refused at Hansen's option) or a new trial on damages only.
• In re Davis (1984). The Fifth Circuit denied the asbestos workers' petition for a writ of certiorari to lift the Louisiana district court's stay, which enforced the Johns-Manville bankruptcy court's stay, and denied without prejudice their petition for a writ of prohibition against the contempt proceeding, so Manville and its insurers prevailed.
• Jackson v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp. (1984). The Fifth Circuit affirmed that Jackson could sue Johns-Manville and Raybestos-Manhattan in strict liability and affirmed the handling of settlement credits. It reversed on admitting cancer-risk evidence, the Sumner Simpson letters and the punitive damages awards, and remanded for a new trial.
• Lowe v. Ingalls Shipbuilding, A Div. of Litton (1984). The Fifth Circuit reversed the district court's declaratory judgment for the employee-plaintiffs and Owens-Corning against Litton (Ingalls) because subject matter jurisdiction was not shown, and remanded to allow possible amendment of the complaint to plead admiralty jurisdiction.
• Bouvier v. Krenz (1983). The Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for Avondale Shipyards because Bouvier, a shore-based rigger, was not a Jones Act seaman, so his widow's Jones Act claim failed.
• Donovan v. Oil, Chem., and Atom. Workers Intern. (1983). The Fifth Circuit vacated the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission's order denying the Secretary of Labor's motion to vacate its review order and remanded for dismissal of the Union's petition, so the Secretary won and the Union lost.
• Hargrave v. Fibreboard Corp. (1983). In Fults, the Fifth Circuit vacated summary judgment and ordered Nicolet's third-party complaint against Turner & Newall dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction; in Hargrave, it affirmed summary judgment for Turner & Newall against Nicolet.
• Thompson v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp. (1983). The Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for four defendants (Raybestos-Manhattan and others) against plaintiff Thompson, who could not show their products caused his asbestosis; one judge dissented and would have certified the question to the Louisiana Supreme Court.
• Wedgeworth v. Fibreboard Corp. (1983). The Fifth Circuit affirmed the Fontenot order denying a stay and vacated the stays in Wedgeworth and Davis, so the plaintiffs' claims against the co-defendants proceed. On rehearing it held that the Wedgeworth court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to let plaintiffs add Johns-Manville's and Unarco's insurers as defendants.
• Hardy v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp. (1982). The Fifth Circuit reversed the district court's omnibus order, which had applied nonmutual offensive collateral estoppel and judicial notice against the asbestos manufacturer defendants, so the defendants prevailed and the plaintiffs lost the order.
• Fusco v. Johns-Manville Products Corp. (1981). The Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for Johns-Manville and the other manufacturers, holding Albert Fusco's asbestos injury suit was barred by the statute of limitations.
• Migues v. Fibreboard Corp. (1981). The Fifth Circuit upheld the denial of Nicolet's motions for directed verdict and JNOV on exposure and causation, but reversed the partial summary judgment that asbestos products were unreasonably dangerous as a matter of law and remanded the whole case, so Nicolet won on the main appellate issue and Mrs. Migues lost her $1.5 million judgment for now.
• Petes v. Hayes (1981). The Fifth Circuit reversed the jury verdict for American Optical Corporation and remanded for a new trial, because the first special interrogatory conflicted with the proximate-cause instruction and was likely to mislead the jury, so plaintiff Petes prevailed on appeal.
• Porter v. American Optical Corp. (1981). The Fifth Circuit affirmed the jury verdict against American Optical and the ruling that Continental owed no coverage, but reversed the ruling that Hartford alone was liable and remanded for Aetna and Hartford to share coverage pro rata.
• Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products Corporation (1973). The Fifth Circuit affirmed the jury verdict and judgment for Borel's widow against six asbestos insulation manufacturers, including Fibreboard, Johns-Manville, Pittsburgh Corning, Philip Carey, Armstrong Cork and Ruberoid, and denied rehearing.