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

Our case-law library holds 33 asbestos decisions from the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit (1988–2022). Each links to our summary and the full opinion.

• Kind of court: Federal appeals court

Decisions

• In re Johns-Manville Corporation (2022). The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment upholding the bankruptcy court's injunction, so Graphic Packaging won and the Berry estate lost its bid to continue claims against Graphic in Louisiana state court.
• Clark v. Aii Acquisition, LLC (2018). The Second Circuit vacated the district court's dismissal of the Clarks' asbestos personal injury suit on judicial estoppel grounds, ruling for Mrs. Clark against Boeing, and remanded for further proceedings.
• US v. Silver (2017). The Second Circuit vacated Sheldon Silver's convictions on all counts (honest services fraud, Hobbs Act extortion, money laundering) because the jury instruction on "official act" was erroneous under McDonnell and the error was not harmless, and remanded; it rejected his sufficiency challenges.
• Brown v. Lockheed Martin Corp. (2016). The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of the estate's asbestos claims against Lockheed Martin for lack of personal jurisdiction in Connecticut.
• Cuomo v. Crane Co. (2014). The Second Circuit reversed the district court's order remanding the case to state court, holding that Crane Co. had shown a colorable federal contractor defense sufficient for federal officer removal, so Crane won and Susan Cuomo lost the remand.
• US v. Thorn (2006). The Second Circuit affirmed the restitution order and the nine-level enhancement, but vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing, ordering an abuse-of-trust enhancement, use of the money laundering guideline without departure, and Criminal History Category II; the government largely prevailed over Thorn.
• US v. Thorn (2003). The Second Circuit vacated Thorn's sentence and remanded for resentencing on the government's appeal, and affirmed the District Court's denial of Thorn's Rule 29 motion on the money laundering count.
• Caruolo v. John Crane, Inc. (2000). The Second Circuit affirmed the jury verdict for Paul and Margaret Caruolo against John Crane, Inc. and the denial of a new trial. It vacated the prejudgment interest award and remanded for recalculation under Rhode Island law, which favored the Caruolos on their cross-appeal.
• Blanding v. Director, Owcp (1999). The Second Circuit reversed the Benefits Review Board and reinstated the ALJ's award of death benefits to Frouwke Blanding, holding her claim timely against Oldam Shipping and Commercial Union.
• Hamilton v. Atlas Turner, Inc. (1999). The Second Circuit reversed the district court's post-verdict dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction, holding Atlas Turner forfeited the defense, and remanded for consideration of Atlas's other challenges to judgment on the plaintiff's verdict.
• LaBounty v. Coughlin (1998). The Second Circuit vacated summary judgment for the prison officials on both the drinking water claim and the asbestos claim (which had been decided on qualified immunity) and remanded to the district court, a win for inmate LaBounty.
• BellSouth Telecommunications v. WR Grace (1996). The Second Circuit affirmed summary judgment for W.R. Grace, holding BellSouth's claim for asbestos abatement costs was time-barred under Connecticut's three-year product liability limitation period.
• Buckley v. Metro-North Commuter RR (1996). The Second Circuit vacated the judgment as a matter of law for Metro-North Commuter Railroad and remanded for a jury trial on Michael Buckley's emotional distress and medical monitoring claims.
• Consorti v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc. (1995). The Second Circuit vacated the loss-of-consortium award to Frances Consorti, ordered a new trial on John Consorti's pain and suffering unless he accepts remittitur to $3.5 million, and otherwise affirmed the judgment against Owens-Corning Fiberglas, which had appealed.
• Consorti v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. (1995). The Second Circuit did not decide the appeal; it certified to the New York Court of Appeals the question whether a spouse's loss of consortium claim is valid when mesothelioma arose after the marriage from asbestos exposure before it, and kept jurisdiction pending the answer.
• Maiorana v. United States Mineral Prods. Co. (In re Joint Eastern & Southern Dist. Asbestos Lit.) (1995). The Second Circuit reversed the district court's judgment as a matter of law for United States Mineral Products and reinstated the plaintiff's jury verdict, affirmed rulings against the contractor third-party defendants, and remanded so plaintiff could choose between the remittitur and a new trial.
• Stonewall Ins. Co. v. Asbestos Claims Management (1995). The Second Circuit affirmed most of the district court's coverage judgments for National Gypsum (ACMC) against its liability insurers, but reversed four rulings (including ACIC's estoppel inclusion, proration to NGC for post-1985 years, the single-occurrence ruling for building claims, and the Texas Endorsement defense-cost ruling) and remanded the cancer-trigger finding.
• In re Joint E. & SO. Dist. Asbestos Lit. (1993). The Second Circuit vacated the district court's preliminary injunction and limited-fund class certification and ordered Keene Corporation's complaint dismissed for lack of Article III subject matter jurisdiction, ruling for the asbestos claimants and against Keene.
• Malcolm v. National Gypsum Co. (1993). The Second Circuit reversed the $226,038 judgment that Roberta Kranz, executrix of Lee Lewis's estate, won against Keene Corporation, and remanded for a new trial because consolidating 48 asbestos cases for trial was improper and prejudiced Keene.
• Feldman v. Owens-Illinois (In re Brooklyn Navy Yard Asbestos Litigation) (1992). The Second Circuit affirmed the plaintiffs' verdicts on causation, failure to warn and the dismissal of the design defect claim, but reversed the prejudgment interest awards on survival-action and future damages. It set out a method for combining the settlement set-off with the cap on non-economic damages, remanded the question of aggregating set-offs, and remanded the Barone pain-and-suffering award for a new trial. It affirmed the defense verdict against Feldman.
• In re Joint E. & So. Dist. Asbestos Litigation (1992). The Second Circuit vacated the district and bankruptcy courts' judgment approving the class action settlement that restructured the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust, ruling for the objecting health claimants and co-defendant manufacturers and against the Trust, class plaintiffs and Legal Representative. It affirmed the Rule 706 expert order and denied mandamus.
• Kreppein v. Celotex Corp. (1992). The Second Circuit affirmed the judgment holding Celotex liable for 32.5% of the damages to Mary Kreppein, rejecting Celotex's challenges on product nexus, apportionment and the amended complaint, and denied plaintiff's request for sanctions.
• Kulzer v. Pittsburgh-Corning Corp. (1991). The Second Circuit reversed the judgment for the plaintiff against Owens-Corning Fiberglas and remanded with instructions to dismiss the complaint as time-barred, because the revival statute's exception applied.
• O'brien v. National Gypsum Co. (1991). The Second Circuit affirmed the jury verdict and judgment against Celotex, finding the exposure evidence sufficient and any hearsay error harmless; the plaintiff's cross-appeal on damages remained stayed by Celotex's bankruptcy.
• Fagiola v. National Gypsum Co. AC & S., Inc. (1990). The Second Circuit affirmed the judgment entered on the jury verdict for defendants Owens-Corning and Eagle-Picher, holding the district court did not err in admitting the summary witness's testimony and summary of sales documents.
• George v. Celotex Corp. (1990). The Second Circuit affirmed the judgment of $588,000 against Celotex, holding the 1947 Hemeon Report was properly admitted and the jury's 90% liability allocation to Celotex was supported by the evidence.
• Grispo v. Eagle-Picher Indus. (In re Joint E. & S. Dist. New York Asbestos Lit.) (1990). The Second Circuit affirmed the denial of Eagle-Picher's summary judgment motion on the military contractor defense, vacated the grant of summary judgment for the workers striking that defense, and remanded for further proceedings.
• Johnson v. Celotex Corp. (1990). The Second Circuit affirmed the jury judgment for plaintiffs John and Ann Marie Johnson, including compensatory and punitive damages, against Celotex and Owens-Illinois; one judge dissented as to punitive damages.
• Raney v. Owens-Illinois, Inc. (1990). The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment of about $450,000 for the widow, Edna Raney, against Owens-Illinois, Celotex and Raymark, holding the evidence let the jury find the missing asbestos warnings were a proximate cause of her husband's death.
• Simpson v. Pittsburgh Corning Corp. (1990). The Second Circuit affirmed the judgment for Helen Simpson against Pittsburgh Corning, including $1,277,000 in compensatory damages and $2,300,000 in punitive damages.
• Bauer v. Raymark Industries, Inc. (1988). The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of the widow's motions for a new trial and judgment n.o.v., leaving in place the jury's special verdicts for all defendants (Raymark, Armstrong, Eagle-Picher, Owens-Corning, Owens-Illinois, Pittsburgh Corning).
• Environmental Encapsulating Corp. v. New York City (1988). The Second Circuit affirmed summary judgment for New York City on the training and certification program, except that it held two worker-safety training requirements (medical surveillance and respiratory protection) preempted by the OSH Act, severed them, and so partly reversed for the abatement contractors.
• Kane v. Johns-Manville Corp. (1988). The Second Circuit affirmed the District Court's order, which had upheld the Bankruptcy Court's confirmation of Manville's reorganization plan, so Manville and the plan's supporters won and claimant Kane lost.