U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii: Asbestos Cases

Our case-law library holds 6 asbestos decisions from the U.S. District Court, District of Hawaii (1986–2020). Each links to our summary and the full opinion.

• Kind of court: Federal district court

Decisions

• Agena v. Cleaver-Brooks, Inc. (2020). The court granted Cleaver-Brooks' motion under Rule 42(b) and ordered 56 separate trials, one for each underlying asbestos settlement, rejecting the plaintiffs' request for a single trial.
• Cabasug v. Crane Company (2014). The district court granted summary judgment to Maxim Evaporators, LLC and Viad Corp. against plaintiffs Robert and Joyce Cabasug, finding no genuine issue that Cabasug was exposed to asbestos supplied by their alleged predecessors.
• Cabasug v. Crane Co. (2013). The court granted in part and denied in part the Cabasugs' motion: the sophisticated user defense survives for defendants, but the sophisticated purchaser defense was struck for lack of evidence; Aurora Pump's summary judgment motion was denied.
• Cabasug v. Crane Co. (2013). The court denied the Cabasugs' motion to apply Hawaii substantive law and ruled that admiralty law governs their asbestos tort claims against the defendant product makers.
• Cabasug v. Crane Company (2013). The court granted Ametek's summary judgment motion, granted Aurora Pump's and Crane's motions in part (as to external insulation and flange gaskets and pads), denied Cleaver Brooks' motion, and denied the Cabasugs' motion on the duty to warn.
• In re Hawaii Federal Asbestos Cases (1986). The district court granted the plaintiffs' motion to strike the state of the art defense to their strict products liability claims (while still allowing such evidence on negligence), ruling against the defendant manufacturers, and held plaintiffs may use the consumer expectation test.