California Asbestos Case Law

Asbestos decisions from California's courts and the federal courts there: 381 cases in our library so far. For what the law requires today, see California asbestos laws; for where exposure happened, see California asbestos exposure sites.

State appeals courts

California Court of Appeal

• The Marley-Wylain Co. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County (2nd Appellate District, 1st Division, 2016). The Court of Appeal granted Marley-Wylain's writ petition and directed the superior court to vacate its order denying the motion and to grant the motion to apply Michigan law to Swanson's claims against Marley-Wylain.
• Untermann v. D. Zelinsky & Sons, Inc. (1st Appellate District, 4th Division, 2016). The Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for painting contractor D. Zelinsky & Sons, Inc., against plaintiff Desin (succeeded on appeal by his daughter Cheryl Untermann).
• BNSF Railway Company v. Superior Court for County OF Los Angeles (2nd Appellate District, 4th Division, 2015). The Court of Appeal granted BNSF Railway's writ petition and directed the trial court to vacate its denial of BNSF's motion to quash and to grant the motion, because California lacked general personal jurisdiction over BNSF; the Kralovetz family lost.
• Casey v. Dynalectric Company (1st Appellate District, 3rd Division, 2015). The Court of Appeal reversed summary judgment for Dynalectric Company and remanded, holding that the plaintiffs (Casey's wife and daughters) raised a triable issue on whether Dynalectric breached a duty of care.
• Green v. CertainTEED Corporation (1st Appellate District, 3rd Division, 2015). The Court of Appeal affirmed the summary judgments for CertainTeed, Bucyrus, Terex and Shell, ruling that Texas causation law applied and the Greens did not meet it, and it upheld the denial of new trial motions against the Greens.
• Greenberg v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County (2nd Appellate District, 4th Division, 2015). The Court of Appeal granted the Greenbergs' writ petition and directed the trial court to vacate its summary judgment for Hennessy Industries and enter an order denying summary judgment and summary adjudication.
• Hellam v. Crane Co. (1st Appellate District, 4th Division, 2015). The Court of Appeal vacated the amended judgment against Crane Co. and remanded for recalculation of the setoff for the Rheem settlement, which it held was a postverdict settlement; it otherwise rejected Crane's challenges to the settlement credits.
• Hernandezcueva v. EF Brady Company, Inc. (2nd Appellate District, 4th Division, 2015). The Court of Appeal reversed the nonsuit on the strict products liability claim against E. F. Brady, so the Hernandezcuevas won on that point and the matter was remanded. It affirmed the denial of a new trial and the rest of the judgment for E. F. Brady.
• Leidig v. Zenith Electronics LLC (2nd Appellate District, 4th Division, 2015). The Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for Zenith Electronics LLC and against the Leidig family, finding no triable issue that the decedent was exposed to asbestos from a Zenith product.
• Marteney v. Union Carbide Corp. (2nd Appellate District, 4th Division, 2015). The Court of Appeal affirmed the denial of Union Carbide's and Elementis's motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, leaving the strict-liability judgment for Marie Marteney in place.
• Melendrez v. Ameron International Corporation (2nd Appellate District, 4th Division, 2015). The Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for Ameron International Corporation, holding the workers' compensation exclusive remedy barred the Melendrez family's wrongful death suit, and affirmed the $80,719 expert fee award to Ameron under section 998.
• Murat v. Exxon Mobil Corp. (2nd Appellate District, 4th Division, 2015). The Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for Exxon Mobil Corp. and SeaRiver Maritime, Inc., finding no triable issue that they breached a duty of care to Mr. Murat, and the daughters lost.
• Quiroz v. BNSF Railway Company (2nd Appellate District, 4th Division, 2015). The Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for BNSF Railway Company, ruling that the plaintiffs (Quiroz and the Thoms family) failed to raise a triable issue that Thoms was exposed to asbestos during his BNSF employment.
• Shiffer v. CBS Corporation (1st Appellate District, 1st Division, 2015). The Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for CBS Corporation (successor to Westinghouse) against plaintiffs James Shiffer and his wife, and upheld denial of their motions for reconsideration and a new trial.
• Soto v. BorgWarner Morse Tec Inc. (2nd Appellate District, 4th Division, 2015). The Court of Appeal affirmed the nonsuit on the great-grandson Eli's wrongful death claim, the $2 million noneconomic awards to each daughter, and the 25 percent fault allocation to ASARCO, but reversed the $32.5 million punitive damages award against BorgWarner Morse TEC for lack of meaningful evidence of its financial condition.
• Walton v. OneBeacon Ins. Co. (2nd Appellate District, 4th Division, 2015). The Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for OneBeacon Insurance Company, which was entitled to subrogation to its insured Powell's $163,589.37 appellate costs judgment against Edward Walton, and affirmed denial of Walton's new trial motion.
• Beckering v. Shell Oil Co. (2nd Appellate District, 3rd Division, 2014). The Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for Shell Oil Company, holding Shell owed no duty to Beckering, who alleged mesothelioma from laundering her husband's work clothes; one justice dissented.
• Boyd v. Super. CT. OF Alameda County (1st Appellate District, 3rd Division, 2014). The Court of Appeal granted Gerald and Judith Boyd's writ petition and directed the superior court to vacate its denial of trial preference and set trial within 120 days of October 31, 2014, over opposition from three defendants.
• Collin v. Calportland Company (3rd Appellate District, 2014). The court affirmed summary judgment for CalPortland and Kaiser Gypsum against plaintiff Collin, and reversed summary judgment for J-M Manufacturing and Formosa, so Collin's claims against them go forward.
• Ganoe v. Metalclad Insulation Corporation (2nd Appellate District, 3rd Division, 2014). The Court of Appeal reversed the summary judgment granted to Metalclad Insulation Corporation, ruling that Metalclad had not met its initial burden and that the plaintiffs had raised triable issues of fact, and awarded costs to the plaintiffs.
• Gottschall v. Crane Co. (1st Appellate District, 2nd Division, 2014). The Court of Appeal reversed the summary judgment for Crane Co. and remanded with instructions to deny Crane's motion, so the Gottschall family won.
• Haver v. BNSF Railway Co. (2nd Appellate District, 5th Division, 2014). The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's judgment sustaining BNSF Railway's demurrer without leave to amend, holding BNSF owed no duty to the decedent, so the survivors lost.
• Hellam v. Crane Co. (1st Appellate District, 4th Division, 2014). The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment for plaintiff Hellam against Crane Co., affirmed the denial of Crane's JNOV and motion to vacate, and affirmed the costs award except for remanding whether costs for pretrial transcripts should be taxed.
• Izell v. Union Carbide Corp. (2nd Appellate District, 3rd Division, 2014). The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment for Bobbie and Helen Izell against Union Carbide, upholding the jury's liability and comparative-fault findings, the compensatory award as reduced to $6 million, and the $18 million punitive award.
• Izell v. Union Carbide Corporation (2nd Appellate District, 3rd Division, 2014). The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment for Bobbie and Helen Izell against Union Carbide, upholding the liability finding, the fault allocation, the remitted $6 million compensatory award and the $18 million punitive award.
• Izell v. Union Carbide Corporation (2nd Appellate District, 3rd Division, 2014). The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment for Bobbie and Helen Izell against Union Carbide, including the remitted $6 million compensatory award and the $18 million punitive award; one justice dissented in part on the punitive award.
• Kent v. Warren Pumps, LLC (2nd Appellate District, 3rd Division, 2014). The Court of Appeal reversed the summary judgment for Warren Pumps, LLC, holding Warren had not met its initial burden, and awarded the Kents their costs on appeal.
• Kesner v. Superior Court of Alameda County (1st Appellate District, 3rd Division, 2014). The Court of Appeal reversed the judgment of nonsuit for Pneumo Abex and held that Abex owed Kesner a duty of care, so the case could go forward for trial on the remaining questions.
• Lovelace v. Elementis Chemicals, Inc. (3rd Appellate District, 2014). The Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for Elementis Chemicals because Lovelace did not challenge the trial court's exclusion of his authentication evidence, an independent ground for the judgment, and Elementis recovered its costs on appeal.
• Lovelace v. Pneumo Abex LLC (3rd Appellate District, 2014). The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment for plaintiff Lovelace, upholding the denial of Pneumo Abex's motions for new trial and JNOV and the jury's 13 percent fault allocation to Abex.
• Paulus v. Crane Co. (2nd Appellate District, 3rd Division, 2014). The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment for the plaintiffs against Crane Co., upholding the denial of Crane's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and rejecting Crane's request for a setoff for possible future asbestos bankruptcy trust recoveries.
• Scott v. Ford Motor Company (1st Appellate District, 1st Division, 2014). The court affirmed the judgment and compensatory damages for Patrick and Sharon Scott against Ford Motor Co. on the failure to warn claims, and reversed the ruling that barred punitive damages, remanding for a trial on punitive damages only.
• Vos v. Calhoon (3rd Appellate District, 2014). The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment dismissing Vos's action against his real estate agent Kenneth Calhoon and Golden West Real Estate, Inc., because Vos did not provide an adequate appellate record to show the demurrer was wrongly sustained.
• Ward v. Goss-Jewett Co. OF Northern California (1st Appellate District, 3rd Division, 2014). The Court of Appeal affirmed the order denying Goss-Jewett's motion for relief from default and default judgment, but modified the judgment to cut the damages award from $5,388,650.87 to $5,120,898, so plaintiffs largely won and Goss-Jewett won only the reduction.
• Catiller v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County (2nd Appellate District, 3rd Division, 2013). The Court of Appeal granted plaintiffs' writ petition, directing the trial court to vacate summary judgment for Schneider Electric USA and to give plaintiffs time to oppose using the deposition of SEI's most knowledgeable person.
• David v. Slakey Brothers, Inc. (2nd Appellate District, 3rd Division, 2013). The Court of Appeal reversed summary judgment for Slakey Brothers and held plaintiffs recover their appeal costs, because the trial court wrongly refused to consider the decedent's declaration, which raised a triable issue on exposure.
• Hernandez v. Amcord, Inc. (2nd Appellate District, 2nd Division, 2013). The Court of Appeal reversed the judgment of nonsuit for Amcord, Inc. and also reversed the trial court's exclusion of Amcord's lobbying evidence, ruling for plaintiff Natalia Hernandez on both points and sending the case back to the trial court.
• Jones v. John Crane, Inc. (2nd Appellate District, 7th Division, 2013). The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment for John Crane Inc., holding that the earlier federal dismissal with prejudice barred the wrongful death and survival claims of the Estate, Karen Jones and the adult children.
• Keeney v. AW Chesterton Company (2nd Appellate District, 4th Division, 2013). The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment, rejecting the plaintiffs' cross-appeal that John Crane should bear 100 percent of the damages and that the Navy commander's testimony should have been excluded; John Crane prevailed on the cross-appeal.
• Klinger v. Alderete (2nd Appellate District, 2nd Division, 2013). The Court of Appeal affirmed the order granting the anti-SLAPP motion of Alderete and her attorneys, which defeated Klinger's malicious prosecution suit, and affirmed the award of attorney fees and costs to them.
• Lee v. Clark Reliance Corporation (2nd Appellate District, 3rd Division, 2013). The Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for Clark Reliance Corporation (successor to Jerguson Gage & Valve), rejecting plaintiff Mary Lee's appeal.
• Melendrez v. Superior Court OF State OF California (2nd Appellate District, 3rd Division, 2013). The Court of Appeal granted the plaintiffs' writ petition, directing the trial court to vacate its orders deeming SECO's discovery responses verified and to determine who holds SECO's attorney-client privilege, so SECO loses on the verification issue and the matter is remanded.
• Pfeifer v. John Crane, Inc. (2nd Appellate District, 4th Division, 2013). The Court of Appeal dismissed John Crane's appeal of the expert-fee award, modified the judgment to set the Pfeifers' net economic damages at $1,374,622.29, and otherwise affirmed the judgment for the Pfeifers, including the $14.5 million punitive award.
• Scott v. Lennar Corporation (1st Appellate District, 2nd Division, 2013). The Court of Appeal affirmed the summary judgments for Lennar, Gordon N. Ball, Inc. and CH2M Hill, because the plaintiffs raised no triable issue of fact on causation.
• Steiner v. Volkswagen Group OF America, Inc. (2nd Appellate District, 6th Division, 2013). The Court of Appeal affirmed the defense jury verdict for Volkswagen, Ford, Nissan and Pneumo-Abex against Steiner's widow, and affirmed the order striking Volkswagen's and Ford's expert witness fees.
• Strickland v. Union Carbide Corp. (2nd Appellate District, 7th Division, 2013). The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment for Strickland's widow and children against Union Carbide, holding substantial evidence supported the jury's finding that exposure to Calidria contributed to his risk of peritoneal mesothelioma.
• Swanson v. Simpson Timber Company (2nd Appellate District, 3rd Division, 2013). Affirmed the trial court's judgment of nonsuit for Simpson Timber Company, holding it owed no duty for secondary exposure and that the self-exposure claim was barred by workers' compensation exclusivity.
• Webb v. Special Electric Company, Inc. (2nd Appellate District, 1st Division, 2013). The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's judgment notwithstanding the verdict for Special Electric and directed that the original judgment on the jury's verdict for the Webbs be reinstated, with one justice dissenting.
• Bankhead v. ArvinMeritor, Inc. (1st Appellate District, 4th Division, 2012). The Court of Appeal affirmed the $4.5 million punitive damages award against ArvinMeritor, rejecting its challenges based on negative net worth and the federal due process ratio limits, so the Bankheads prevailed.
• Bankhead v. Pneumo Abex LLC (1st Appellate District, 4th Division, 2012). The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment against Abex, including the $9 million punitive damages award, holding that excluding Abex's unaudited financial statement was proper and that any error in admitting indemnity evidence was harmless; plaintiffs won.