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.

Federal district courts

U.S. District Court, Central District of California

• Lund v. 3M Company (2013). The court denied Niantic Seal, Inc.'s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction without prejudice and granted plaintiffs William and Victoria Lund 90 days of jurisdictional discovery.
• Nelson v. Air and Liquid Systems Corp. (2013). The court granted summary judgment to Air and Liquid Systems (Buffalo Pumps), Alfa Laval, Crane, Nash, Kaiser Gypsum and Union Carbide, dismissing the widow's negligence, strict liability and conspiracy claims for lack of evidence that her husband was exposed to asbestos from their products.
• Couscouris v. Hatch Grinding Wheels, Inc. (2012). The court granted the plaintiffs' motion to remand to state court, finding that Lorillard failed to show the California defendant Metalclad was fraudulently joined, and denied the plaintiffs' request for fees, costs and sanctions.

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California

• In re Bestwall LLC (2022). The court granted Bestwall LLC's motion, holding that Dr. Loomis could not claw back the data file he produced and must answer deposition questions about it, so Loomis and the claimants' association lost.
• Payne v. Abb, Inc. (2022). The court found the two actions related under Local Rule 123 and reassigned the later-filed Payne case to the same district judge and magistrate judge as the first-filed case, without consolidating them.
• Person v. Perry (2021). On screening, the magistrate judge granted plaintiff Walter Person in forma pauperis status, found his Eighth Amendment deliberate indifference claims against the prison officials cognizable, and ordered the complaint served on the defendants.
• Adcock v. Peery (2020). The court granted plaintiff Jerome Adcock's motion to proceed in forma pauperis and dismissed his complaint against the prison officials with leave to amend, because it did not yet state a cognizable Eighth Amendment claim.
• Carrera v. Johnson & Johnson (2019). The magistrate judge recommended denying Johnson & Johnson's request to stay and granting Dana Carrera's motion to remand her case to California state court, for lack of bankruptcy 'related to' jurisdiction or, alternatively, on equitable grounds.
• Deere v. Lizarraga (2019). A magistrate judge recommended granting summary judgment to Warden Joe Lizarraga against prisoner Arthur Ray Deere Sr. and struck Deere's unauthorized sur-reply.
• Strobel v. Colgate-Palmolive Company (2019). The district court granted Douglas and Jo Ann Strobel's motion to remand their talc mesothelioma suit to Solano County Superior Court, rejecting Johnson & Johnson's bankruptcy-related removal.
• Holcomb v. Colvin (2015). The court denied plaintiff Glenn Holcomb's motion for summary judgment, granted the Commissioner's cross-motion, and directed entry of judgment for the Commissioner, upholding the denial of disability benefits.

U.S. District Court, Northern District of California

• Marcus v. Air & Liquid Systems Corporation (2024). The court granted Metalclad partial summary judgment, granted some defendants summary judgment on maritime non-pecuniary damages and on one product (Rockwell's Allen-Bradley equipment), denied most other defense summary judgment motions, denied the defense motions to exclude plaintiffs' experts, and partly excluded defense naval expert Herfel.
• Sarjeant v. Foster Wheeler LLC (2024). The court granted Vanderbilt's summary judgment motion as to Sarjeant's use of a DAP product, denied it as to the Kaiser Gypsum products, and deferred ruling on the fraud and punitive damages claims.
• Sarjeant v. Foster Wheeler LLC (2024). The court granted plaintiff James Sarjeant's motion to compel Foster Wheeler LLC to produce documents about its boilers on six ships repaired at Todd Shipyards, and ordered production within 10 days.
• Smargisso v. Air & Liquid Systems Corporation (2024). The court denied Warren Pumps' evidentiary motions and the Warren and IMO causation motions, and granted defendants summary judgment on punitive damages, loss of consortium, pain and suffering, loss of future earnings and the design defect claims. It also granted plaintiffs summary judgment on the sophisticated user, sophisticated intermediary and superseding cause defenses, and denied both sides summary judgment on the government contractor defense to the failure to warn claims.
• Speck v. CBS Corporation (2024). The court granted summary judgment to General Dynamics, Gould, Plenco, Union Carbide, Ericsson and RSCC Wire & Cable, and to Eaton on the fraud claims. It denied summary judgment to Bath Iron Works and Metalclad, rejected their government contractor defense, and denied Eaton's request on punitive damages.
• Elorreaga v. Rockwell Automation, Inc. (2023). The federal district court denied summary judgment motions by General Electric, ViacomCBS, Air & Liquid Systems and Warren Pumps, and granted the Elorreaga family's motion for partial summary judgment that the government contractor defense does not apply.
• Elorreaga v. Rockwell Automation, Inc. (2023). The federal district court denied the defendants' motions to exclude the testimony of the plaintiffs' experts Staggs, Spear, Smith and Horn, without prejudice to renewed objections at trial.
• Gemaehlich v. Air & Liquid Systems Corporation (2023). The court granted the Gemaehlichs' motion to remand the case to Alameda Superior Court after the two defendants that asserted federal officer removal (John Crane and Crosby Valve) were dismissed, declining supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law claims.
• Haeck v. 3M Company (2023). The court granted Gary and Elizabeth Haeck's motion to remand the case to state court because 3M's removal was barred by the forum defendant rule, and awarded Plaintiffs $5,000 in fees and costs against 3M.
• Marcus v. Air & Liquid Systems Corporation (2023). The district court denied the plaintiffs' (Michael and Victoria Marcus) motion to remand and for attorneys' fees, finding that the removing defendants (Greene Tweed, Air & Liquid Systems, Foster Wheeler) met the federal officer removal requirements.
• Elorreaga v. Rockwell Automation, Inc. (2022). The court granted General Electric and ViacomCBS's motion to dismiss the plaintiffs' claims for punitive damages and loss of consortium damages under general maritime law, but denied it as to the California negligence and strict liability claims.
• Darden v. Western Asbestos Settlement Trust (In re Western Asbestos Settlement Trust) (2022). The district court affirmed the bankruptcy court's summary judgments for the Western Asbestos Settlement Trust, holding the 1986 release and claim preclusion barred Darden's personal injury claim and the Trust need not pay the heirs' wrongful death claims; the Dardens lost, and the Trust's motion to strike new reply-brief arguments was granted.
• Shelton v. Air & Liquid Systems Corporation (2022). The court granted the defendants' joint motion to strike the specific-causation opinions of the plaintiffs' expert, Dr. Edwin Holstein, because they lacked a sufficient foundation under federal maritime law.
• Toy v. Warren Pumps (In re Asbestos) (2021). The district court denied Warren Pumps, LLC's motion for summary judgment, finding genuine factual disputes on exposure to asbestos from its pumps and gaskets and on substantial-factor causation, so plaintiffs Agnes Toy and Thomas Toy, Jr. prevailed on the motion.
• Toy v. Warren Pumps (In re Asbestos) (2021). The federal district court denied the plaintiffs' motions to exclude the testimony of defense experts Dr. Paustenbach and Dr. Roggli, so the defendants won the ruling.
• Toy v. Warren Pumps (In re Asbestos) (2021). The court granted Warren Pumps' and Armstrong International's motions to exclude plaintiffs' expert Captain Burger from testifying that Mr. Toy worked on or around those companies' products or about land-based steam traps.
• Toy v. Armstrong Int'l (In re Asbestos) (2021). The court granted in part and denied in part Armstrong's motion to exclude plaintiffs' expert Dr. Brody (he may give general but not specific causation testimony) and denied Warren Pumps' and Honeywell's motion to exclude "every exposure" testimony, without prejudice to renewed objections at trial.
• Toy v. Honeywell Int'l (In re Asbestos) (2021). The district court denied Honeywell's motion to exclude plaintiffs' causation expert Dr. Carl Brodkin, so the Toy plaintiffs won the ruling, and it terminated as moot the parallel motions by Ingersoll-Rand, Morse TEC and Metalclad.
• Toy v. Armstrong Int'l (In re Asbestos) (2021). The court granted the Toy plaintiffs' motion to strike defense expert Dr. Gail Stockman's testimony on asbestos state of the art and on asbestos exposure and risk from steam traps, a ruling against defendant Armstrong International.
• Toy v. Armstrong Int'l (In re Asbestos) (2021). The court granted in part and denied in part the defendants' motion to strike plaintiffs' expert Dr. Staggs: it kept only two pages of his rebuttal report and barred him from testifying in the plaintiffs' case-in-chief, but refused to strike the report as untimely.
• Toy v. Armstrong Int'l (In re Toy Asbestos) (2021). The district court granted Armstrong International's motion for summary judgment on all claims by Agnes Toy and Thomas Toy, Jr., and directed entry of judgment for Armstrong.
• Pizarro v. National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (2021). The court denied NASSCO's motion for summary and partial summary judgment, granted Pep Boys' motion on the negligent misrepresentation and fraud by nondisclosure claims because plaintiffs waived them, and denied Pep Boys' motion on punitive damages, so the case went forward for plaintiffs.
• Rathbun v. Barretts Minerals, Inc. (2021). The court granted the Rathbuns' motion to remand to Alameda Superior Court, finding Chattem and Lucky had not shown the California defendants were fraudulently joined, and denied the Rathbuns' request for fees and costs.
• Shelton v. Air & Liquid Systems Corporation (2021). The court granted defendant Superior Lidgerwood Mundy Corporation's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, with leave to amend, and granted plaintiffs' request for jurisdictional discovery.
• Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization v. Wheeler (2020). The court granted summary judgment to the asbestos-awareness organizations and the plaintiff states, denied the EPA's cross-motion, and remanded to the EPA with instructions to begin a rulemaking on asbestos reporting under TSCA section 8(a).
• Toy v. Honeywell Int'l (In re Toy Asbestos Litigation) (2020). The court granted in part and denied in part Honeywell's motion to modify the scheduling order: Honeywell could not supplement its expert Dr. Vachani's report, but Plaintiffs could depose him after the deadline.
• Pizarro v. Astra Flooring Company (2020). The court denied plaintiffs Renato and Mercedita Pizarro's motion to remand, holding that defendant NASSCO timely removed and established a colorable government contractor defense under the Federal Officer Removal Statute.
• Viale v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. (2020). The court granted Exxon Mobil's motion for summary judgment against the wife and daughter of Ronald Viale, finding they lacked evidence that Exxon was negligent as a premises owner or hirer of contractors at the Benicia Refinery.
• Viale v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. (2020). The court granted Foster Wheeler's motion for summary judgment against plaintiffs Debbie Viale and Amber Jacobs because they lacked admissible evidence that Ronald Viale was exposed to a Foster Wheeler boiler.
• Viale v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. (2020). The court granted SPX Cooling Technologies' motion for summary judgment against the plaintiffs (the wife and daughter of Ronald Viale) because they lacked evidence that Viale was exposed to asbestos from a Marley cooling tower.
• Viale v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. (2020). The district court granted Foster Wheeler LLC's motion for summary judgment against the plaintiffs, the widow and daughter of Ronald Viale, because they lacked admissible evidence that Viale was exposed to a Foster Wheeler product.
• Viale v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. (2020). The court granted Union Carbide's motion for summary judgment against plaintiffs Debbie Viale and Amber Jacobs because they offered no evidence that Ronald Viale was exposed to a product containing asbestos supplied by Union Carbide.
• Harris v. CBS Corporation (2019). The federal district court granted Michael and Elsie Harris's motion to remand, ruling that Ingersoll-Rand's removal notice was untimely, and sent the case back to Alameda County Superior Court.
• Toy v. Viking Pump (In re Toy Asbestos Litigation) (2019). The district court denied, without prejudice to renewal after discovery, Viking Pump's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, finding the Toys made a prima facie case of specific jurisdiction.
• Toy v. Honeywell International Inc. (2019). The court granted NAPA's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and terminated NAPA from the case, ruling against plaintiffs Thomas and Agnes Toy as to NAPA.
• Viale v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. (2019). The court denied the plaintiffs' renewed motion to remand, keeping the case in federal court against Foster Wheeler, Buffalo Pumps (Air & Liquid Systems), Calaveras, GE and the other defendants.
• Viale v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. (2019). The court granted plaintiffs' motion for leave to file a Second Amended Complaint over Foster Wheeler's objection, and directed plaintiffs to file it by May 31, 2019.
• Viale v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. (2019). The court denied the plaintiffs' motion to remand, holding that Foster Wheeler and Air & Liquid Systems (successor to Buffalo Pumps) properly removed the case under the federal officer removal statute.
• Continental Casualty v. Chatz for Cfb/wfb Trust (2018). The district court affirmed the Bankruptcy Court's judgment, holding Continental Casualty estopped from contesting coverage and liable to the Liquidating Trust for $2,512,444 plus interest, and affirmed the Section 155 penalty and attorney fees against Continental; it did not reach the denial of leave to sue in state court.