Florida Asbestos Case Law

Asbestos decisions from Florida's courts and the federal courts there: 70 cases in our library so far. For what the law requires today, see Florida asbestos laws; for where exposure happened, see Florida asbestos exposure sites.

Federal district courts

U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida

• Viera v. BASF Catalysts LLC (2016). The court granted BASF's partial motion to dismiss (joined by Superior and Whittaker), dismissing the plaintiff's misrepresentation and concerted-acts claims without prejudice and allowing her 14 days to file a second amended complaint.
• Brown v. Crews (2015). The court granted the Florida corrections defendants' motion to dismiss, dismissing inmate John Brown's compensatory and punitive damages claims in both counts and dismissing Count Two against Secretary Crews.
• Dugas v. 3M Company (2015). The court granted in part and denied in part the defendants' motions to dismiss: the negligence, strict liability and loss of consortium claims survived against 3M, Shell and UTC, but the fraudulent concealment claims against UTC, IMO and Shell were dismissed with prejudice.
• Flomenhoft v. Georgia-Pacific LLC (2013). The court granted Georgia-Pacific's motion for partial summary judgment and dismissed Linda Flomenhoft's loss of consortium claim, because she was not married to Mark Flomenhoft when he was exposed to asbestos.

U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida

• Gallo v. Carnival Corporation (2023). The district court granted the plaintiffs' motion to remand and sent the case back to Texas state court, holding that Carnival Corporation had not shown federal jurisdiction based on the arbitration agreements.
• Andres v. Raytheon Technologies Corp. (2022). The court granted Huntsman Corp.'s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and dismissed the second amended complaint as to Huntsman without leave to amend and without jurisdictional discovery.
• Batchelor v. American Optical Corp. (2016). The district court granted the Batchelors' motion to remand the case to Florida state court for lack of subject matter jurisdiction over CBS/Westinghouse's federal officer removal, and denied their request for attorney's fees and costs.
• Waite v. Aii Acquisition Corp. (2016). The court denied Ford's motion for summary judgment and its motion to exclude Plaintiffs' causation experts and historian, denied Plaintiffs' motion to exclude Ford's experts (while barring untimely expert analysis), and denied Plaintiffs' motion to reconsider the dismissal of Union Carbide for lack of personal jurisdiction.
• Taylor v. Georgia-Pacific, LLC (2015). The court granted Roy and Suzanne Taylor's emergency motion to remand the case to Florida state court because the non-diverse defendants had settled but not been formally dismissed, and denied their request for attorneys' fees.
• Oneal v. Alfa Laval, Inc. (2014). The court granted Foster Wheeler's summary judgment motion and granted Crane's motion as to Crane valves, but denied Crane's motion as to Cranite sheet gaskets, so that claim goes to the jury.
• Peruyero v. Airbus Sas (2014). The federal district court granted BAE Systems PLC's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and dismissed the estate's amended complaint without prejudice, giving the plaintiff seven days to file a second amended complaint.
• Rothchild v. Crane Co. (2014). The court denied Lorillard Tobacco Company's motion to strike two allegations from the plaintiffs' amended complaint, so the Rothchilds' allegations stayed in the complaint.
• Rothchild v. Crane Co. (2014). The court granted Union Carbide's motion to dismiss the amended complaint as to Union Carbide only, without prejudice, and gave the Rothchilds 30 days to amend with more specific allegations.
• Faddish v. Buffalo Pumps (2012). The court granted summary judgment to pump, valve and turbine makers Warren Pumps, Crane and Westinghouse (CBS) and against plaintiff Ruth Faddish, holding they had no duty to warn about asbestos in other companies' insulation, gaskets and packing.
• Marley v. Elliot Turbomachinery Co., Inc. (2008). The court denied the plaintiffs' motion to remand, holding that Elliott Turbomachinery and Viad properly removed the case under the federal officer removal statute, so the defendants prevailed on this motion.

Federal bankruptcy courts

U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of Florida

• Matter of Celotex Corp. (1997). The bankruptcy court granted the excess insurers' Rule 52(c) motions, holding that Celotex and Carey Canada failed to prove timely and reasonable notice of asbestos bodily injury and property damage claims, so the insurers won and the debtors lost on this issue.
• Matter of Celotex Corp. (1996). The bankruptcy court held that Celotex and Carey Canada (the debtor) established physical injury to tangible property in each of eight representative asbestos building cases, that the pollution exclusion, known-loss doctrine and expected-or-intended defenses did not bar coverage, and that the defendant insurers must provide Property Damage coverage as the court defined it.
• Matter of Celotex Corp. (1994). The bankruptcy court granted the debtors Celotex and Carey Canada partial summary judgment, holding the policy term "asbestosis" and the phrase "asbestosis and related diseases arising out of asbestos products" unambiguous, and denied the insurer defendants' cross-motion.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Florida

• In re Eight Adversary Proceedings (2019). The bankruptcy court denied Johnson & Johnson's motions to stay and granted the plaintiffs' motions to remand the eight removed talc cases to state court, assuming related-to jurisdiction but remanding on equitable grounds.
• In re Evans Products Company (2009). The bankruptcy court granted summary judgment to the Van Brunts and denied JELD-WEN's request for a ruling that their asbestos claims were discharged by the 1986 Florida confirmation order.