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

• Laurent v. New Orleans City (2015). The court granted summary judgment for BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen and against plaintiff Scott Laurent, because he produced no evidence his father was exposed to asbestos from their products.
• Meyers v. Chesterton (2015). The court denied Crane Co.'s motion for reconsideration of the order remanding the case to Louisiana state court and denied its alternative motion to stay the remand pending appeal, so the plaintiffs prevailed.
• Meyers v. Chesterton (2015). The court granted the plaintiffs' (Meyers and Palermo's) motion to remand to state court, holding the defendants, including GE, failed to establish a basis for federal officer removal.
• Poche v. Eagle, Inc. (2015). The district court granted the Poches' motion to remand to Louisiana state court because Eagle, a Louisiana defendant stayed in bankruptcy, was not voluntarily dismissed and so destroyed diversity; it denied the Poches' request for $3,000 in attorneys' fees, so Foster Wheeler lost on removal but avoided a fee award.
• Savoie v. Pennsylvania General Insurance Co. (2015). The court granted the plaintiffs' motion to remand to Louisiana state court, rejecting Avondale/Huntington Ingalls's federal officer removal, and denied the plaintiffs' request for sanctions.
• Smith v. Union Carbide Corporation (2015). The court denied plaintiff Miriam Smith's motion in limine to exclude Union Carbide's expert, industrial hygienist William Dyson, so he may testify about Mr. Smith's estimated asbestos dose.
• Vedros v. Grumman (2015). The court denied the plaintiffs' motions to exclude the expert testimony of Danny Joyce and Dennis Paustenbach, so the defendants (Avondale and Amchem) won the motions.
• Vedros v. Grumman (2015). The court denied Continental Insurance Company's motion in limine and ruled that Sally Gros Vedros's earlier deposition testimony could be used at trial against Continental, so the plaintiffs prevailed on the motion.
• Vedros v. Grumman (2015). The court granted Avondale's motion for partial summary judgment, ruling that the plaintiffs had no claim against Avondale under Louisiana Civil Code articles 1821-1823 based on its insurance buy-back agreements.
• Vedros v. Northrop Grumman (2015). The court granted the defendants' motions for partial summary judgment, dismissing the plaintiff children's Lejeune (bystander) mental anguish damages claim against Avondale, Eagle, Eagle's insurers and McCarty.
• Vedros v. Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc. (2015). The court granted in part and denied in part the defendants' motions to exclude Dr. Kraus: he was qualified and could testify on diagnosis and general causation, but could not give specific causation opinions based on the "every exposure above background" theory.
• Vedros v. Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc. (2015). The court granted in part and denied in part the defendants' motions to strike opinions of Plaintiffs' substitute expert Dr. Kraus, striking several opinions and his rebuttal report to Dr. Stockman and keeping the rest.
• Vedros v. Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc. (2015). The court granted the plaintiffs' motion to strike seven opinions of Westinghouse's substitute expert, Dr. Gail Stockman, because they went beyond or contradicted the opinions of the deceased original expert, Dr. Sawyer; the plaintiffs won and Westinghouse lost.
• Vedros v. Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc. (2015). The court denied Amchem's motion to exclude plaintiffs' industrial hygienist expert Frank Parker, so plaintiffs may present his testimony at trial; Amchem lost, and its motion for leave to reply was also denied.
• Wilde v. Huntington Ingalls Inc. (2015). The court granted Mary Jane Wilde's motion to remand to Louisiana state court, rejecting Avondale (Huntington Ingalls)'s federal officer removal because it failed to show the causal nexus to federal direction.
• Zeringue v. Allis-Chambers Corp. (2015). The court granted plaintiff Howard Zeringue's motion to remand and sent the case back to state court, finding that Crane Co. had not shown enough evidence of government discretion to support federal officer removal.
• Comardelle v. Pennsylvania General Insurance Company (2014). The court granted P2S, LLC's motions for summary judgment, dismissing with prejudice the plaintiffs' claims and the Avondale Interests' crossclaims against P2S, and dismissed P2S's alternative motion as moot.
• Comardelle v. Pennsylvania General Insurance Company (2014). The court denied Union Carbide's motion to exclude plaintiffs' pathology expert Dr. Hammar and for summary judgment on causation, so plaintiffs' claims against Union Carbide continued.
• Comardelle v. Pennsylvania General Insurance Company (2014). The court granted partial summary judgment to the Avondale executive officers and their insurers and dismissed plaintiffs' Article 2317 strict liability claims against them with prejudice.
• Comardelle v. Pennsylvania General Insurance Company (2014). The court granted Avondale's (Huntington Ingalls') motion for partial summary judgment and dismissed with prejudice the plaintiffs' Louisiana Civil Code Articles 1821-1823 claims based on the insurance buy-back agreements.
• Comardelle v. Pennsylvania General Insurance Company (2014). The court granted all defendants' motions for partial summary judgment and dismissed with prejudice the family's claims for bystander (Lejeune) damages for watching Comardelle's illness and death.
• Comardelle v. Pennsylvania General Insurance Company (2014). The court denied plaintiff Comardelle's motion to remand, holding that Westinghouse (joined by Foster Wheeler and GE) properly removed the case to federal court under the federal officer removal statute.
• Humphries v. OneBEACON America Insurance Company (2014). The district court denied plaintiff John Humphries's motion to remand, finding defendant Elliott Company made a sufficient showing for federal officer removal under 28 U.S.C. § 1442 and was entitled to a federal forum.
• Humphries v. OneBEACON America Insurance Company (2014). The district court denied Elliott Company's motion to stay its remand order pending appeal, so plaintiff John Humphries' case stays remanded to state court.
• Landry v. Columbia Casualty Company (2014). The district court denied the plaintiffs' motion to remand and motion for sanctions, held that Columbia Casualty and Eagle, Inc. were fraudulently joined, and dismissed the claims against them without prejudice, leaving Huntington Ingalls as the only defendant.
• Laurent v. City of New Orleans (2014). The court denied Plaintiff Scott Laurent's motion to remand, holding that GE and CBS properly removed the case under the federal officer removal statute.
• Millet v. Huntington Ingalls Incorporated (2014). The court granted Foster Wheeler's unopposed summary judgment motion against third-party plaintiff Huntington Ingalls, and denied General Electric's and CBS's motions as premature, without prejudice to re-urging them later.
• Morvant v. Maryland Casualty Company (2014). The court denied the insurers' motion to stay the federal direct-action suit under Colorado River abstention (or alternatively to continue deadlines), so plaintiff Morvant's suit against the insurers proceeds.
• Najolia v. Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Inc. (2014). The court granted Reilly-Benton Company's motion for summary judgment and dismissed the plaintiffs' claims against it with prejudice, because plaintiffs could not show Najolia, Sr. worked on ships or was near Reilly-Benton's products.
• Radosta v. Lorillard Tobacco Co. (2014). The court granted the plaintiffs' motion to remand to state court, holding that Lorillard Tobacco Co.'s removal was untimely.
• Rodrigue v. Continental Insurance Company (2014). The court granted the plaintiffs' motion to remand to Louisiana state court, finding the removing defendants had not shown that the non-diverse defendant Eagle, Inc. was improperly joined.
• Smith v. Union Carbide Corp. (2014). The court granted Miriam Smith's unopposed motion for summary judgment, ruling that no liability can be found against settled party Taylor-Seidenbach, so the remaining defendants cannot reduce damages by Taylor's share of fault.
• Smith v. Union Carbide Corp. (2014). The court granted in part the premises-owner defendants' (Union Carbide, Ethyl, Dow Chemical) summary judgment motions, dismissing vicarious-liability and strict-liability claims, but denied them on plaintiff Miriam Smith's direct negligence claims.
• Vedros v. Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc. (2014). The district court denied the plaintiffs' motion to remand and kept the case in federal court under supplemental jurisdiction, ruling for the defendants (Amchem, Continental, Westinghouse, Avondale and the Avondale Interests) and against the plaintiffs.
• Vedros v. Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc. (2014). The court granted Westinghouse's summary judgment motion on the turbine claims, dismissing them with prejudice, and denied it on the micarta claims, which go forward.
• Vedros v. Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc. (2014). The district court granted General Electric's motion for summary judgment and dismissed the plaintiffs' claims against GE with prejudice, because the plaintiffs lacked evidence that GE supplied or attached any asbestos-containing material.
• Vedros v. Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Inc. (2014). The court granted Avondale's and the Avondale Interests' motions for partial summary judgment and dismissed with prejudice the plaintiffs' intentional tort, fraud and conspiracy claims.
• Whatley v. Eagle, Inc. (2014). The court dismissed the third-party claims against the Veterans Administration Medical Center for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and remanded the case to Orleans Parish Civil District Court, granting the plaintiffs' motion; it did not reach Local 141's and Somdal's motions to dismiss.
• Morvant v. Asbestos Corporation Limited (2013). The federal district court granted plaintiff Mary Morvant's motion to remand and sent the case back to Orleans Parish civil court, rejecting defendant Asbestos Corporation Limited's removal.
• Phillips v. Abb Combustion Engineering, Inc. (2013). The court denied, without prejudice, the motions for summary judgment by CenterPoint Energy and Associated Electric Cooperative seeking dismissal of Carol Phillips's claims as time-barred, because the choice-of-law issue was raised first in her opposition and was inadequately briefed.
• Phillips v. Abb Combustion Engineering, Inc. (2013). The court denied Associated Electric Cooperative's Rule 12(e) motion for a more definite statement and granted its Rule 12(b)(6) motion, dismissing the Estate of Robert Lee Phillips as an improper party, while Carol Phillips's claims continued.
• Phillips v. Abb Combustion Engineering, Inc. (2013). The court granted the motions of the City of Grand Island and Nebraska Public Power District to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, dismissing the plaintiffs' claims against them.
• Pitman v. Crane Co. (2013). The court granted June Pitman's motion to remand to Orleans Parish civil court, finding Georgia-Pacific failed to show the Louisiana defendants Eagle and Taylor-Seidenbach were improperly joined, and denied Georgia-Pacific's motion for limited discovery.
• Smith v. Union Carbide Corp. (2013). The federal district court denied Miriam Smith's motion to remand, finding the removal timely and not waived and Louisiana defendant Taylor-Seidenbach improperly joined, so the Removal Defendants (Dow, Ethyl, Union Carbide) prevailed.
• Landry v. Eagle, Inc. (2012). The court granted the Landrys' motion to remand and sent the case back to Orleans Parish Civil District Court, because removing defendant J.A. Sexauer did not show complete diversity.
• Najolia v. Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Inc. (2012). The court denied plaintiff Najolia's motion to remand, holding that General Electric and CBS Corporation (Westinghouse) properly removed the case under the federal officer removal statute.
• Richoux v. Csr Limited (2008). The court granted plaintiff Richoux's motion to remand, finding Capital One had not shown the non-diverse defendants were improperly joined, and awarded plaintiff costs and fees against Capital One, with the amount referred to the Magistrate Judge.
• Bradley v. Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (2007). The court granted plaintiff Frank Bradley's motion to remand and sent the case back to Orleans Parish Civil District Court, holding that Northrop Grumman (as alleged successor to Avondale) and Peter Territo failed to justify federal officer removal; their motion for a 1292(b) statement was denied.
• Lerille v. Monsanto Corporation (2007). The court granted Betty Lerille's motion to remand, severing and remanding her state-court suit because the defendant's removal was untimely, and denied her motion for Rule 11 sanctions and for attorneys' fees.
• Delancey v. Chicago Insurance Co. (2004). The court granted the plaintiffs' motion to remand and sent the case back to Orleans Parish Civil District Court, holding that Chicago Insurance's removal failed for lack of diversity or other federal jurisdiction.