Indiana Asbestos Case Law

Asbestos decisions from Indiana's courts and the federal courts there: 37 cases in our library so far. For what the law requires today, see Indiana asbestos laws; for where exposure happened, see Indiana asbestos exposure sites.

State supreme court

Indiana Supreme Court

• Myers v. Crouse-Hinds Division OF Cooper Industries, Inc. (2016). The Indiana Supreme Court affirmed the denial of summary judgment to General Electric and Owens-Illinois in the Geyman case and reversed summary judgment for Crouse-Hinds and the other defendants in the Myers case, so the plaintiffs won and the cases were remanded.
• Psi Energy, Inc. v. Roberts (2005). The Indiana Supreme Court affirmed the judgment for William and Beverly Roberts against PSI Energy, holding PSI was not vicariously liable for its contractor ACandS but that the general verdict was supported under the premises liability instructions given to the jury.
• AlliedSignal, Inc. v. Herring (2003). The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer, vacated the Court of Appeals opinion and the trial court's denial of summary judgment, and remanded for the trial court to decide whether the repose period's exception applied, which partly favored the defendants and left Lucille Herring's claims alive only if the exception applies.
• Harris v. AC & S., Inc. (2003). The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer, vacated the Court of Appeals opinion and the trial court's summary judgment for the asbestos defendants, and remanded for the trial court to examine whether any plaintiff falls within the limited exception to the ten-year statute of repose.
• Jurich v. Garlock, Inc. (2003). The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer, vacated the trial court's summary judgment for the defendants, and remanded for the trial court to decide whether a reasonably experienced physician could have diagnosed Mr. Jurich within the ten-year repose period while he had no reason to know of it.
• Bunker v. National Gypsum Co. (1982). The Indiana Supreme Court vacated the Court of Appeals' opinion and affirmed the Industrial Board's denial of asbestosis benefits to Richard Bunker, holding the three-year limitation period constitutional and National Gypsum the winner.

State appeals courts

Indiana Court of Appeals

• Myers v. Bremen Casting, Inc. (2016). The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's grant of partial summary judgment to Bremen Casting and Mastic Home Exteriors on the non-delegable duty and premises liability claims, affirmed the denial of summary judgment on respondeat superior, and remanded for further proceedings, so the Myerses prevailed on all three claims at this stage.
• Asbestos Corporation Limited v. Akaiwa (2007). The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's denial of summary judgment, ruling for Asbestos Corporation Limited because the executor of Littlefield's estate showed no evidence that Littlefield was exposed to ACL asbestos.
• Casper v. LE Isley & Sons, Inc. (2007). The Court of Appeals affirmed the Worker's Compensation Board's dismissal of the Estate's claim against employer L.E. Isley & Sons, so the Estate lost and Isley won.
• Roberts v. ACandS, Inc. (2007). The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the Worker's Compensation Board's dismissal of the Estate's occupational disease claim against ACandS, holding the dismissal was not premature and the release provision was not unconstitutional as applied.
• TH Agriculture and Nutrition, LLC. v. Akaiwa (2007). The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's denial of summary judgment, ruling for THAN and against the executor of Littlefield's estate because THAN was not an asbestos miner and the ten-year statute of repose barred the claim.
• Jurich v. John Crane, Inc. (2005). The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for John Crane, WTI Rust Holdings and Mallinckrodt, holding the plaintiffs' claims were barred by the ten-year product liability statute of repose, to the loss of the Jurich and Serna estates.
• Psi Energy, Inc. v. Roberts (2004). The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's denial of PSI Energy's motions for judgment on the evidence and to correct error, leaving the jury verdict for the Robertses in place against PSI.
• Roberts v. ACandS, Inc. (2004). The Court of Appeals reversed the Worker's Compensation Board's dismissal of William Roberts's occupational disease claim against ACandS as premature and remanded; ACandS lost its bid to end its liability.
• Harris v. AC & S., Inc. (2002). The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the trial courts' summary judgments for A.C. & S., NARCO, Mallinckrodt, Combustion Engineering, Kaiser, WTI, Rapid-American, Weil-McLain and W.R. Grace on statute-of-repose grounds and remanded, siding with the plaintiffs (Harris, Serna, Noppert and Gottschalk families).
• Allied Signal, Inc. v. Herring (2001). The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's denial of summary judgment to the Asbestos Defendants, so Lucille Herring's wrongful death claim survived the statute of repose challenge.
• Black v. ACandS, Inc. (2001). The court reversed summary judgment for defendants that was based on the ten-year statute of repose, and affirmed summary judgment for Rapid-American, Universal Refractories, ACandS and Brand for lack of product identification evidence, remanding the case.
• Jurich v. Garlock, Inc. (2001). The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment for Anchor Packing, Garlock, John Crane and WTI Rust Holdings, holding the ten-year statute of repose unconstitutional as applied to Carole Jurich's claims, and remanded for further proceedings.
• Parks v. AP Green Industries, Inc. (2001). The Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for B.M.W., Hunter and Morrison on product identification and upheld the denial of Chicago Firebrick's product-identification motion, but reversed summary judgment for Chicago Firebrick, Uniroyal and Green on the statute of repose and remanded for the Parkses.
• Holmes v. ACandS, Inc. (1999). The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's summary judgment and dismissal in favor of the asbestos defendants, holding Holmes's wrongful death claim was timely, so she (the plaintiff) prevailed.
• Novicki v. Rapid-American Corp. (1999). The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's dismissal of the Novicki estate's wrongful death complaint against Rapid-American as time-barred and remanded for further argument and evidence on timeliness under Section 5.
• Sears Roebuck and Co. v. Noppert (1999). The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's order granting the Nopperts' motion to correct errors and remanded with instructions to reinstate summary judgment for Sears, so Sears won and the Nopperts lost.
• Sorenson v. Allied Products Corp. (1999). The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for Allied Products Corporation, holding Allied was not liable as successor to White Farm for Frank Sorenson's mesothelioma death, and rejecting the widow's claim that the trial court lacked jurisdiction.
• Bunker v. National Gypsum Co. (3rd District, 1981). The Court of Appeals reversed the Industrial Board's denial of disability benefits to Richard Bunker against National Gypsum, holding the three-year limit unconstitutional as applied to him, and remanded.

Federal district courts

U.S. District Court, Northern District of Indiana

• Hostetler v. Johnson Controls, Inc. (2021). The court denied the plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment and granted in part JCI's motion: JCI won on the asbestos trespass claim, the Hostetlers' time-barred vapor claims, and the negligence and emotional distress claims, while the other plaintiffs' trespass and nuisance claims over solvent vapors were left for trial.
• Hostetler v. Johnson Controls, Inc. (2021). The court granted Johnson Controls' motion for summary judgment on the neighbors' Indiana Environmental Legal Action (ELA) claim, and also granted Johnson Controls' motion to strike two of the plaintiffs' expert's opinions, granted the plaintiffs' motion to strike in part, and denied a second Johnson Controls motion to strike as moot.
• Hostetler v. Johnson Controls, Inc. (2020). The court granted Johnson Controls' motion to exclude three experts' opinions that the five plaintiffs face increased future health risks from TCE, PCE and asbestos exposure, so the plaintiffs lost on that motion.
• Aurand v. Norfolk Southern Railway Company (2010). The court denied Norfolk Southern Railway's motion for summary judgment based on a release, because material facts about the release's validity were disputed, so Aurand's claim continued.

U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana

• Hedden v. CBS Corporation (2015). The court granted summary judgment to Crown Cork & Seal, CBS, General Electric, Gardner Denver, Link-Belt and Riley Power, and denied it to Crane Co. and John Crane, Inc. on the maritime claims, so the Heddens' Navy-related claims against those two defendants go to trial while their non-maritime Louisville Gas & Electric claims were dismissed.
• Lambert v. Babcock & Wilcox Co. (1999). The district court denied John Crane's and W.R. Grace's motions for summary judgment and their motions to reconsider the order letting plaintiff Cheryl Lambert amend her complaint, and it reserved ruling on relation back pending more briefing.
• Spoonamore v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc. (1999). The district court granted John Crane's motion for summary judgment, ruling against the Spoonamore plaintiffs on the product claims, the wrongful death claim and the loss of consortium claim.
• Spoonamore v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc. (1999). The court amended its May 7, 1999 order and held that Indiana's ten-year statute of repose barred the Spoonamores' wrongful death and underlying product claims, so summary judgment stayed in place for Owens-Illinois and against the plaintiffs.
• Spoonamore v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc. (1998). The district court granted John Crane's motion for summary judgment, ruling against the Spoonamore estate and Mrs. Spoonamore on their negligence, strict liability, wrongful death and loss of consortium claims.
• Castor v. US (1995). The court dismissed the federal prisoners' Federal Tort Claims Act asbestos-exposure suits against the United States for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under the discretionary function exception, and denied their motions for appointed counsel and to strike a declaration.
• Harris v. AC & S, Inc. (1995). The court granted summary judgment to Pittsburgh Corning, Owens-Corning, Anchor Packing and Garlock, and in part to Georgia-Pacific (for Bestwall). It denied it to John Crane, to Georgia-Pacific on its joint compound, and initially to A.W. Chesterton. It later reconsidered, granted Chesterton summary judgment, and directed final judgment for all defendants.
• Knox v. AC & S, Inc. (1990). The court denied Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp.'s summary judgment motion, so the estate of Darrel Knox, the plaintiff, could continue its asbestos suit against OCF.
• Knox v. AC & S, Inc. (1988). The court granted in part and denied in part the defendants' summary judgment motion: CERCLA § 9658 did not preempt Indiana's statute of repose, so claims based on products delivered before 1973 were barred, but the plaintiff could still try to prove delivery and exposure from 1973 to 1985.