U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas: Asbestos Cases

Our case-law library holds 7 asbestos decisions from the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas (2009–2023). Each links to our summary and the full opinion.

• Kind of court: Federal district court

Decisions

• Gray v. BNSF Railway Company (2023). The court denied BNSF Railway's motion for summary judgment, holding that neither the 2004 nor the 2017 release barred Columbus Gray's FELA claim for bladder cancer.
• Kimmons v. Autozone, Inc. (2022). The court granted the plaintiffs' voluntary dismissals of nine defendants and approved the stipulated dismissals, denied the pending motions to dismiss cross-claims and Morse TEC's summary judgment motion as moot, and held all remaining cross-claims moot; only the claims against Union Carbide remained.
• Kimmons v. Autozone, Inc. (2020). The district court granted Cyprus Mines' motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, ruling against plaintiffs Kimmons and Swopes as to Cyprus Mines only; the case continued against the other defendants.
• Thomas v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec LLC (2018). The court granted summary judgment to Ford, Honeywell and Abex on the breach of warranty claims and granted Abex's motion in part on market share liability, but denied summary judgment on all other claims, including punitive damages, so plaintiff Thomas's claims go forward.
• Thomas v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec LLC (2018). The court granted Hennessy Industries' motion for summary judgment and dismissed it from the case, because its brake grinder contained no asbestos and could not have caused Thomas's mesothelioma.
• Miller v. Mainard (2015). The magistrate judge recommended dismissing the inmate's § 1983 complaint against Gail Mainard and the other Arkansas Department of Correction defendants without prejudice for failure to state a claim, because he alleged no actual injury from asbestos exposure.
• Valentine v. Borg-Warner Corporation (2009). The court granted the plaintiff's motion to remand, rejecting Borg-Warner's fraudulent joinder argument, and sent the case back to the Circuit Court of White County, Arkansas.