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

Our case-law library holds 10 asbestos decisions from the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan (1978–2023). Each links to our summary and the full opinion.

• Kind of court: Federal district court

Decisions

• Kachman v. Standard Fuel Engineering Company (2023). The court granted the plaintiffs' motion to remand all seven asbestos personal injury actions to Wayne County Circuit Court, finding the defendants (Standard Fuel Engineering and Spence Brothers) failed to show federal-question jurisdiction.
• Pyscher v. US (2017). The court granted the United States' motion to dismiss Lawrence Pyscher's Federal Tort Claims Act negligence/malpractice complaint and dismissed it with prejudice.
• Ely v. Dearborn Heights School District NO. 7 (2015). The court dismissed the claims against the Dearborn Heights School District for lack of a policy or custom, but denied summary judgment to the individual defendants Bartold and Thieken (including on qualified immunity) and denied the plaintiff's own motion, leaving her First Amendment claims for trial.
• King v. Ridenour (2010). The court granted Waters & Kraus, LLP's motion to dismiss in part and dismissed the plaintiffs' malpractice and contract claims against the firm for lack of personal jurisdiction, without ruling on the failure-to-state-a-claim argument.
• Anjeski v. Keene Bldg. & Development Co. (1989). The district court granted summary judgment to defendants Keene, Celotex and Owens-Illinois, ruling that plaintiff Irene Anjeski's sole product identification deposition could not support a jury finding that her husband was exposed to their products.
• Marshall v. Celotex Corp. (1988). The court granted the remaining defendants' (Celotex, Fibreboard, Keene, Pittsburg Corning) renewed motion for judgment, ruling that plaintiff Deborah Marshall could not proceed on a concert of action theory without showing any defendant supplied asbestos products to the naval station.
• Marshall v. Celotex Corp. (1987). The district court stayed the case and certified to the Michigan Supreme Court the question of whether a plaintiff proceeding on a concert of action theory must show that at least one tortious defendant actually supplied asbestos to the decedent's workplace, without deciding the final outcome between Marshall's estate and the defendants.
• Marshall v. Celotex Corp. (1987). The court denied the defendant asbestos manufacturers' motion for summary judgment, allowing the plaintiff's concert-of-action theory to go to trial.
• Marshall v. Celotex Corp. (1987). The court granted the defendant manufacturers' summary judgment motions on the alternative liability, market share liability and enterprise liability theories, and held the motion on the concert of action theory in abeyance pending a hearing on causation.
• Ins. Co. of No. Am. v. Forty-Eight Insulations (1978). After a trial, the court held that the exposure theory governs coverage, so every insurer on the risk during a claimant's exposure must share defense and indemnity for Forty-Eight Insulations, with Forty-Eight bearing shares for uninsured years. This rejected the manifestation theory urged by INA, Affiliated FM, Illinois National and Liberty Mutual.