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

Our case-law library holds 353 asbestos decisions from the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana (1991–2025). Each links to our summary and the full opinion.

• Kind of court: Federal district court

Decisions

• Cortez v. Lamorak Insurance Company (2022). The court granted third-party defendant Liberty Mutual's unopposed motion for partial summary judgment, ruling that Wayne Manufacturing was not a professional vendor of asbestos-containing wallboards, against third-party plaintiff Avondale; plaintiffs were found to lack standing to oppose.
• Cortez v. Lamorak Insurance Company (2022). The court granted Hopeman Brothers' motion for partial summary judgment, dismissing the plaintiffs' intentional-tort claims and their claims that Wayne Manufacturing was Hopeman's alter ego or part of a single business enterprise.
• Cortez v. Lamorak Insurance Company (2022). The court granted Travelers' summary judgment motion only on whether B&B was a professional vendor of asbestos (and so on strict products liability) and denied it on negligence duty and breach and on Article 2317 liability, so plaintiffs' other claims continued.
• Cortez v. Lamorak Insurance Company (2022). The court denied Goodrich's motion for summary judgment (joined by several co-defendants) on Callen Cortez's claim for loss of personal household services, so plaintiffs kept that claim.
• Cortez v. Lamorak Insurance Company (2022). The court granted partial summary judgment for Westinghouse (ViacomCBS), General Electric and Foster Wheeler, dismissing the plaintiffs' intentional-tort and fraud claims, and dismissed the punitive-damages part of the motion as moot.
• Cortez v. Lamorak Insurance Company (2022). The court denied as premature the motion in limine by Foster Wheeler, GE and Westinghouse to exclude plaintiffs' two medical causation experts as cumulative, leaving defendants free to object at trial.
• Cortez v. Lamorak Insurance Company (2022). The court granted in part the motion by Eagle and LIGA to limit plaintiffs' industrial hygienist Gerard Baril, barring him from testifying that a supplier who puts its name on an insulation box should legally be considered its manufacturer, and denied the motion otherwise.
• Cortez v. Lamorak Insurance Company (2022). The court granted plaintiffs' motion to exclude Danny Joyce's hearsay testimony about Walsh-Healey inspectors, but denied it as to Avondale's expert relying on that testimony, so long as Avondale does not disclose the hearsay to the jury.
• Cortez v. Lamorak Insurance Company (2022). The court granted Trinity's summary judgment motion and the motions to dismiss by Continental, Liberty Mutual and Travelers, dismissing with prejudice Albert Bossier's third-party claims because no substitution was made within 90 days after notice of his death.
• Cortez v. Lamorak Insurance Company (2022). The district court denied as moot plaintiff Cortez's motion for review of the Magistrate Judge's order allowing Eagle, Inc. to file a supplemental answer, because Eagle's later answer to the third amended complaint made the earlier order irrelevant.
• Cortez v. Lamorak Insurance Company (2022). The court granted insurer USF&G's unopposed motion for partial summary judgment and dismissed plaintiff Callen Cortez's punitive-damages claims against it.
• Cortez v. Lamorak Insurance Company (2022). The court granted summary judgment to Entergy, First State, USF&G, Berkshire and Insulations, LLC, granted GE's motion in part (insulation claims) and denied it in part (asbestos gasket claims), and denied Foster Wheeler's motion; it also granted LIGA's motion in limine excluding hearsay.
• Cortez v. Lamorak Insurance Company (2022). The court granted plaintiff Callen Cortez's motion for summary judgment that he has mesothelioma and that asbestos caused it, over the defendants' oppositions, while leaving specific causation issues for the jury.
• Cortez v. Lamorak Insurance Company (2022). The court granted Avondale's summary judgment motion in part, dismissing Cortez's tort claims against Avondale as his employer and his intentional-tort claim, but denied it as to his take-home exposure claims against Avondale as his brother's employer.
• Cortez v. Lamorak Insurance Company (2022). The court denied the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association's motion for summary judgment, so plaintiff Callen Cortez's claims arising from the Gabler Insulations insurance coverage go forward.
• Crossland v. Huntington Ingalls, Inc. (2022). The court granted plaintiff Linda Crossland's motion for partial summary judgment, holding that defendants Avondale and Hopeman were not entitled to government contractor (Boyle) or Yearsley immunity against her failure-to-warn and safety claims.
• Falcone v. Anco Insulations, Inc. (2022). The court denied Texas Automatic Power's motion for summary judgment as premature, siding with cross-claimant Avondale (Huntington Ingalls) because fact questions and the need for further discovery remained.
• Falgout v. Anco Insulations, Inc. (2022). The court denied the plaintiffs' motion to decline supplemental jurisdiction and remand to state court, keeping the case in federal court against defendant Avondale (Huntington Ingalls).
• Falgout v. Anco Insulations, Inc. (2022). The court granted summary judgment to third-party defendants Foster Wheeler, GE and Amchem and dismissed Avondale's cross-claims against them.
• Falgout v. Anco Insulations, Inc. (2022). The court granted the plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment against Avondale, ruling that Avondale could not use the Boyle or Yearsley government contractor defenses, and denied as moot the motion against Hopeman, which had settled.
• Gooding v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. (2022). The district court denied seven defendants' motions for summary judgment (Bayer CropScience, Swiftships, Foster Wheeler, General Electric, ViacomCBS, Bollinger Shipyards Lockport, Boland Marine), leaving the plaintiffs' claims for trial.
• Gooding v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. (2022). The district court denied Buck Kreihs's motion for summary judgment against the plaintiffs' claims and Avondale's and Bossier's crossclaims, so the claims against Buck Kreihs go forward.
• Gooding v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. (2022). The court granted Travelers Indemnity Company's summary judgment motion and dismissed with prejudice the plaintiffs' direct-action claims against it, because there was no evidence the decedent was at Swiftships during Travelers' coverage period.
• Hotard v. Avondale Industries, Inc. (2022). The district court denied SeaRiver Maritime's motion for summary judgment, joined by Exxon Mobil, so the plaintiff's negligence and strict liability claims against them go forward.
• King v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. (2022). The court granted Shreveport Rubber & Gasket Co.'s unopposed motion for summary judgment and dismissed plaintiff Glen King's claims against it, because he could not show exposure to asbestos from its products.
• Labarre v. Bienville Auto Parts Inc. (2022). The court granted Bienville Auto Parts' summary judgment motion on the strict liability "professional vendor" claim, but denied it on the negligence claim against Bienville as a non-manufacturer seller and on its sophisticated-user defense, so plaintiff Birdsall kept those claims.
• Matherne v. Huntington Ingalls Incorporated (2022). The court granted summary judgment for the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (LIGA) and against the plaintiffs, holding that their claims were not timely 'covered claims' because they arose after the insolvent insurer's claim bar date.
• Morales v. Anco Insulations Inc. (2022). The court granted Avondale's unopposed Rule 54(b) motion and directed entry of final judgment in favor of Avondale, Lamorak and Travelers, whom it had earlier dismissed on LHWCA preemption grounds.
• Morales v. Anco Insulations Inc. (2022). The court granted summary judgment to Avondale (Huntington Ingalls), its insurers Lamorak and Travelers, and dismissed plaintiffs' state-law tort claims against them with prejudice as preempted by the LHWCA; plaintiffs lost.
• Ports America Gulfport, Inc. v. Johnson (2022). The federal district court denied Ports America's motion for a preliminary injunction against the ongoing Louisiana state-court mesothelioma case and enforcement of any resulting judgment, ruling for Judge Johnson and the state-court plaintiffs.
• Ragusa v. Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association (2022). The court denied plaintiff Frank Ragusa's motion for a preferential trial setting, ruling for defendant Huntington Ingalls because an expedited trial would not allow enough time for discovery and preparation.
• Robichaux v. Huntington Ingalls Incorporated (2022). The court denied plaintiff Felton Robichaux's motion for partial summary judgment on Avondale's government contractor and derivative sovereign immunity defenses, without prejudice, as premature, so Avondale gets time for discovery.
• Robichaux v. Huntington Ingalls Incorporated (2022). The court denied Plaintiff Felton Robichaux's motion to remand, holding that Huntington Ingalls (Avondale) properly removed the case under the federal officer removal statute and did so on time.
• Roussell v. Huntington Ingalls, Inc. (2022). The court granted Westinghouse's motion for summary judgment and dismissed Marsha Roussell's claim against it with prejudice, because she offered no evidence of exposure to Westinghouse-related asbestos.
• Roussell v. Huntington Ingalls, Inc. (2022). The court granted summary judgment to General Electric and Foster Wheeler because Roussell did not oppose the motions, and dismissed her claims against them with prejudice.
• Roussell v. Huntington Ingalls, Inc. (2022). The district court denied plaintiff Roussell's motion to dismiss Avondale's federal contractor defense and to remand to state court, so Avondale kept the federal forum.
• Sampey v. Anco Insulations, Inc. (2022). The court granted the unopposed summary judgment motions of Goulds Pumps and Crown Cork & Seal and dismissed the plaintiffs' claims against them with prejudice.
• Sampey v. Anco Insulations, Inc. (2022). The court granted Crescent Materials' unopposed motion for summary judgment and dismissed the plaintiffs' claims against it with prejudice.
• Sampey v. Anco Insulations, Inc. (2022). The court granted the unopposed summary judgment motions of Grefco and Viking Pump and dismissed the claims against them by the plaintiffs and crossclaimant Avondale with prejudice.
• Sanchez v. Anco Insulations, Inc. (2022). The court granted seven unopposed summary judgment motions by John Crane, Pharmacia, Bayer CropScience, Crane Company, Century Indemnity, Zurich American and Goulds Pumps, dismissing all claims against them with prejudice.
• Sanchez v. Anco Insulations, Inc. (2022). The court granted unopposed summary judgment for Crown Cork & Seal, Atwood & Morrill, and Crescent Materials, dismissing plaintiff's claims against them with prejudice.
• Sanchez v. Anco Insulations, Inc. (2022). The district court granted unopposed summary judgment for Viking Pump and Grefco, dismissing the plaintiff's claims against them with prejudice for lack of evidence of exposure to their products.
• Savoie v. Huntington Ingalls (2022). The court denied the plaintiffs' motion to remand and kept the case in federal court after the Avondale defendants were dismissed, with the insurer defendants prevailing.
• Sentilles v. Huntington Ingalls Inc. (2022). The court granted Avondale's (Huntington Ingalls') summary judgment motion and dismissed Sentilles's state-law tort claims against it with prejudice, ruling that the LHWCA's exclusivity provision preempts them.
• Sentilles v. Huntington Ingalls Inc. (2022). The court granted Avondale's motion for summary judgment and dismissed with prejudice Sentilles's state-law tort claims against Avondale, both occupational and take-home, as preempted by the LHWCA's exclusivity provision.
• Sentilles v. Huntington Ingalls Incorporated (2022). The court granted Pelnor's Rule 54(b) motion, entering partial final judgment on the order dismissing plaintiff Sentilles's claims against Avondale so that the dismissal can be appealed immediately.
• Sentilles v. Huntington Ingalls, Inc. (2022). The court granted the unopposed summary judgment motions of Union Carbide, Amchem, Zurich (as alleged insurer of Marquette) and John Crane, and dismissed Sentilles's and Huntington Ingalls (Avondale)'s claims against them with prejudice.
• Sentilles v. Huntington Ingalls, Inc. (2022). The court granted Avondale's unopposed motions for summary judgment and dismissed with prejudice Sentilles's claims about his employment there after June 23, 1969, and his secondary-exposure claims tied to his father and brother.
• Stansbury v. McCARTY Corporation (2022). The federal district court granted Lennard Stansbury's motion to remand, declined to keep the state-law claims, and sent the case back to Orleans Parish Civil District Court over the opposition of Employers Insurance Company of Wausau.
• Stansbury v. McCARTY Corporation (2022). The court granted the motion of Bertram C. Hopeman and Liberty Mutual (as alleged insurer of Hopeman Brothers' executive officers) to dismiss plaintiff Stansbury's executive-officer negligence claims, unless he filed an amended complaint by July 8, 2022 curing the deficiencies.