U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina: Asbestos Cases

Our case-law library holds 17 asbestos decisions from the U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina (1992–2022). Each links to our summary and the full opinion.

• Kind of court: Federal district court

Decisions

• Amerisure Mutual Insurance Company v. Metal Masters, Inc. (2022). The federal court granted Weist's motion and dismissed Amerisure's declaratory judgment action without prejudice, deferring to the pending South Carolina State Coverage Action; Amerisure lost and Weist and Metal Masters won.
• Robertson v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. (2021). The district court granted Eaton Corporation's motion for summary judgment on all claims, ruling that plaintiff Robertson did not show frequent and regular exposure to Eaton's (Cutler-Hammer) motor starters.
• Warren v. 3M Company (2021). The court granted Plaintiff Cynthia Warren's motion to remand, finding Westinghouse's federal officer removal untimely, and returned the case to the Charleston County Court of Common Pleas.
• Robertson v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. (2020). The district court granted Covil Corporation's motion for summary judgment against plaintiff Mary Ann Robertson because she did not show actionable exposure to a Covil asbestos product.
• Nicolas v. Johnson & Johnson (2019). The district court granted plaintiff Barbara San Nicolas's motion to remand to state court, finding removal timely but no 'related to' bankruptcy jurisdiction over her claims against Johnson & Johnson, and denied the defendants' motion to transfer to Delaware as moot.
• Bostic v. 3M Company (2018). The court granted the plaintiff's motion to remand to state court because Rite Aid of South Carolina was not fraudulently joined, so complete diversity was lacking; the request for attorneys' fees was denied as moot and the removing defendants' amended notice was struck.
• Chesher v. 3M Company (2018). The district court granted Crane Co.'s renewed motion for summary judgment, ruling against plaintiffs James and Cheryl Chesher because they lacked evidence that Crane's products were a substantial factor in causing his mesothelioma.
• Matthews v. EI DU Pont DE Nemours and Company (2018). The court granted DuPont's renewed motion for summary judgment and dismissed with prejudice the claims of Kimberly Matthews, on behalf of herself and the estate of Jerry Matthews, because workers' compensation was the exclusive remedy.
• Chesher v. 3M Company (2017). The court denied Crane Co.'s motion for summary judgment, so the Chesher plaintiffs' failure-to-warn claims against Crane go forward; Crane may renew its substantial-factor argument after the Daubert ruling.
• Haskins v. 3M Company (2017). The district court granted Air and Liquid Systems' and Crane's motions to exclude Dr. Bedrossian's specific-causation testimony in both cases, and denied the motions as to other experts because plaintiffs conceded they would offer no specific-causation opinion.
• Dandridge v. Crane Co. (2016). The district court granted Crane Co.'s motion for summary judgment, ruling against plaintiff Linda Dandridge, because she showed no genuine factual dispute that Crane owed her husband a duty to warn about asbestos flange gaskets.
• Sparkman v. Goulds Pumps, Inc. (2015). The court granted the plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration on the bare metal defense and denied Goulds Pumps' motion for summary judgment, but declined to revisit its earlier finding on proof of exposure to Goulds products.
• Bradley v. Richland County Landfill, Inc. (2014). The court granted plaintiff Bradley's motion to remand and sent the case back to South Carolina state court, rejecting the Landfill and the other defendants' federal officer removal.
• Sparkman v. AW Chesterton Company (2014). The district court granted Foster Wheeler's motion for summary judgment and its motion to strike an affidavit, ruling against the plaintiffs, the estate representatives of Elijah Sparkman, Jr., for lack of evidence of exposure to a Foster Wheeler asbestos product.
• Sparkman v. AW Chesterton Company (2014). The federal district court denied Research-Cottrell's motion for summary judgment, so the estate's claims against it go forward.
• Sparkman v. AW Chesterton Company (2014). The court granted Goulds Pumps' motion for summary judgment against the estate's representatives, holding Goulds could not be liable for asbestos in insulation and gaskets it did not manufacture or supply.
• Metal Trades, Inc. v. US (1992). The district court reversed the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals and ordered the Navy to renegotiate the repair contract with Metal Trades, Inc. and cover its increased costs for removing asbestos insulation and lagging.