Ohio Asbestos Case Law

Asbestos decisions from Ohio's courts and the federal courts there: 111 cases in our library so far. For what the law requires today, see Ohio asbestos laws; for where exposure happened, see Ohio asbestos exposure sites.

State appeals courts

Ohio Court of Appeals

• Polanco v. Asbestos Corp., Ltd. (3rd Appellate District, 2009). The court of appeals reversed the trial court's summary judgment for Maremont Corporation and remanded for trial, so Connie Polanco, the widow, won on appeal.
• Riedel v. Consolidated Rail Corporation (8th Appellate District, 2009). The appeals court affirmed the trial court's administrative dismissal of the plaintiffs' asbestos claims and severance of their non-asbestos claims, rejecting the Railroads' argument that all claims should be dismissed.
• Werts v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (8th Appellate District, 2009). The appellate court affirmed the judgment on a jury verdict for John Crane, Inc., rejecting Betty Werts's challenges to expert fiber-release testimony and to admission of a proof-of-claim form, which was error but harmless.
• Gomcsak v. US Steel Corp. (9th Appellate District, 2008). The court of appeals affirmed the Lorain County judgment on the jury verdict for U.S. Steel, rejecting the widow Phyllis Gomcsak's challenges to the limit on her expert's testimony and to the denial of a new trial.
• Louden v. AW Chesterton Co. (8th Appellate District, 2008). The appeals court affirmed summary judgment for Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. (CEI) against the widow, Bertha Louden, on her employer intentional tort claim; one judge dissented.
• Pennsylvania Gen. Ins. Co. v. Park-Ohio Industries, Inc. (8th Appellate District, 2008). The appeals court reversed the trial court's judgment denying Pennsylvania General Insurance equitable contribution from Nationwide and Continental, and remanded for further proceedings on the shares each owes.
• DiCENZO v. A-Best Prods. Co., Inc. (8th Appellate District, 2007). The appeals court reversed summary judgment for Borg-Warner and remanded, reversed summary judgment for George V. Hamilton, Inc. on the strict liability claim and remanded, and affirmed summary judgment for Hamilton on negligent failure to warn, so the plaintiff won in part and lost in part.
• Penn v. A-Best Prods. Co. (10th Appellate District, 2007). The appeals court affirmed in part and reversed in part the trial court's denial of the plaintiffs' motions to prove a prima facie case under H.B. 292. It reversed as to Ward's non-smoker lung cancer claim and the colon and laryngeal cancer claims, and remanded for a determination of whether those claims accrued under the 'should have known' clause; defendants largely lost on the statutory issues.
• Polanco v. Asbestos Corp., Inc. (3rd Appellate District, 2007). The Ohio Court of Appeals dismissed Connie Polanco's appeal from summary judgment for Maremont Corporation for lack of a final appealable order, because 16 defendants remained in the case and the judgment had no Civ.R. 54(B) certification.
• Potts v. 3M Co. (8th Appellate District, 2007). The appeals court affirmed partial summary judgment for The Edward R. Hart Company, holding it was not vicariously liable as a supplier for the bankrupt asbestos manufacturers, and Evelyn Potts lost.
• Rahmes v. Adience Inc. (8th Appellate District, 2007). The court of appeals affirmed summary judgment for R.E. Kramig & Company, ruling against the Estate of Robert Rahmes, because the Estate did not show Kramig supplied the asbestos products to Armco Steel or that they were a substantial factor in his illness.
• State EX rel. Pilkington N. AM. v. Indus. Comm. (10th Appellate District, 2007). The court adopted its magistrate's decision and granted a writ of mandamus ordering the Industrial Commission to vacate the order placing 100 percent of risk liability on Pilkington as a self-insured employer and to issue an amended allocation order; Pilkington largely won, but its request to assign the claim wholly to the state fund was denied.
• Varner v. Ford Motor Co. (8th Appellate District, 2007). The court of appeals affirmed summary judgment for Ford Motor Company, holding Yvonne Varner's workers' compensation death claim was filed too late.
• Vince v. Crane Co. (8th Appellate District, 2007). The appeals court affirmed summary judgments for Crane Company and Goodyear Tire & Rubber against the estate of Nathalie Vince, and dismissed Owens-Illinois from the appeal because it had settled with the estate.
• Barone v. Gatx Corp. (11th Appellate District, 2006). The appeals court reversed the trial court's denial of John Crane's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, and remanded with instructions to enter judgment for John Crane over the executor's $32,600 verdict.
• Blandford v. A-Best Prods. Co. (8th Appellate District, 2006). The appeals court reversed the $6.4 million jury verdict for plaintiff Kathleen Blandford against Garlock Sealing Technologies and remanded for a new trial, because the trial court wrongly allowed a surprise expert and video on rebuttal.
• Rettig v. Gen. Motors Corp. (8th Appellate District, 2006). The appeals court affirmed summary judgment for Toledo Edison, reversed summary judgment for General Motors, and remanded because a fact question remained on whether Rettig or his employer knew of asbestos dangers.
• Snyder v. Ford Motor Co. (3rd Appellate District, 2005). The appeals court affirmed the January 2004 order denying summary judgment to Rosemary Snyder and to Ford, reversed the May 2005 summary judgment for Ford, General Dynamics and the Administrator, and remanded for a determination of her right to participate in the workers' compensation fund.
• State EX rel. Abex Corp./electro Alloys Div. v. Indus. Comm. OF Ohio (10th Appellate District, 2005). The court granted a limited writ of mandamus for the employer Abex/Electro Alloys, ordering the Industrial Commission to vacate its finding that Abex was the sole liable employer, notice the claimant's other former employers, and issue an amended order on employer liability, while leaving the mesothelioma claim allowance undisturbed.
• Anderson v. AC & S., Inc. (8th Appellate District, 2003). The appeals court reversed the grant of summary judgment to the railroads on Shirley Anderson's survival claim and affirmed the denial of summary judgment on her wrongful-death claim, overruling the railroads' cross-appeal and remanding.
• Heard v. Conrad (7th Appellate District, 2000). The court of appeals affirmed summary judgment for the Bureau of Workers' Compensation, the Industrial Commission and Eichleay Corporation, holding that George Heard's occupational disease claim was filed too late.
• Estate of Orecny v. Ford Motor Co. (8th Appellate District, 1996). The appeals court reversed the trial court's order granting Ford Motor Company's Civ.R. 60(B) motion to vacate the settlement, held that the settlement did not abate on the widow's death, and remanded, so the widow's estate prevailed.
• Baechel v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. (1994). The court of appeals affirmed the jury verdict and judgment allowing JoAnn Baechel to participate in the Workers' Compensation Fund for her husband's death, rejecting Sears's three assignments of error.
• Columbus Bd. of Edn. v. Armstrong World (1993). The appeals court reversed summary judgment for Pfizer, finding the school board's claim accrued in 1981 and was timely, but affirmed summary judgment for Basic, Inc., because the amended complaint adding it did not relate back, and remanded.
• Lynch v. Mayfield (1991). The court of appeals affirmed the judgment on a jury verdict that Susie Mae Lynch, widow of Earl Lynch, was not entitled to participate in the Workers' Compensation Fund, so the employer Ferro prevailed.
• Bush v. Abex Corp. (1989). The Ohio Court of Appeals reversed the summary judgments for Lac d'Amiante du Quebec and Asbestos Corporation, Limited, and remanded for further proceedings, finding a genuine factual issue on whether David Bush was exposed to their asbestos; Delores Bush won the appeal.
• Gradwell v. AS Helbig Constr. Co. (1989). The court of appeals reversed the trial court's dismissal of W.G. Lockhart Construction Co. and W.E. Plechaty Co. and held that the widow, Mary Jane Gradwell, could join them as parties in her workers' compensation death-benefits appeal.

State trial courts

Ohio Court of Claims

• Beany v. Ohio State Univ. (2009). After a bench trial on liability, the Ohio Court of Claims entered judgment for defendant Ohio State University, finding plaintiff Mark Beany failed to prove an employer intentional tort, and his family's derivative loss of consortium claim failed with it.

Ohio Court of Common Pleas

• Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. v. Am. Centennial Ins. (1995). The court granted OCF partial summary judgment on known loss, notice, trigger, scope of coverage, exhaustion of the ACIC/PNIC layers, defense expenses, and Associated's time-barred fraud claim. It granted Associated its motion on the exhaustion time frame and ACIC and PNIC their motion on punitive damages. It denied OCF's motion on ACIC's and PNIC's fraud claims and denied Associated's expected-or-intended motion, so both go to trial.
• Layne v. GAF Corp. (1988). The court denied United States Mineral Products Co.'s motion for judgment n.o.v., upheld the verdict for plaintiff Geraldine Layne, and reduced the judgment to $338,300 for a setoff of settlement payments.
• Lavelle v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. (1987). The trial court granted the defendants' motion in limine to exclude evidence of increased risk of cancer and denied it as to evidence of the asbestosis-afflicted plaintiff's increased fear of cancer, so each side won in part.
• English v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp. (1984). The court ruled that Dr. Kleinerman, whom both sides had contacted as an expert, could be used at trial by any party and that his testimony was subject to discovery by all parties, rejecting the defendants' claim to exclusive use.

Federal district courts

U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio

• Keiser v. Donald Mckay Smith, Inc. (2023). The court granted plaintiff Carolyn Keiser's motion to remand to the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, finding Vanderbilt Minerals had not shown that the non-diverse defendants were fraudulently joined, and denied as moot the other pending motion.
• Parker Hannifin Corp. v. Standard Motor Products, Inc. (2023). The court granted Parker Hannifin's summary judgment motion and denied Standard Motor's, ruling that Standard Motor must indemnify Parker for the $6 million punitive award (with interest, $7,218,085.44) from the Barr asbestos verdict, plus attorney's fees and costs.
• Kallsen v. AW Chesterton Company (2021). The district court denied the Kallsens' motion to remand, holding that Westinghouse (ViacomCBS) timely removed the case to federal court, so the case stays in federal court.
• Parker Hannifin Corp. v. Standard Motor Products, Inc. (2020). The court denied Standard Motor Products' motion to certify its earlier order for interlocutory appeal and to stay proceedings, leaving Parker Hannifin's contract claims to continue in district court.
• RW Beckett Corp. v. Allianz Global Corp. (2020). The court denied Fireman's Fund Insurance Company's motion to certify questions to the Ohio Supreme Court and denied its motion for summary judgment on the pollution exclusion, settlement credits, contribution and bad faith, so R.W. Beckett Corp. prevailed at this stage.
• Brucker v. CBS Corporation (2019). The district court granted Crane Co.'s motion for summary judgment on the maritime strict liability and negligence claims because plaintiff Christine Brucker could not show that Harold Brucker was exposed to Crane's asbestos-containing products.
• MacLachlan v. AW Chesterton, Inc. (2019). The court granted American Optical summary judgment on the plaintiffs' unopposed common law claims and on the separate punitive damages count, but denied it on product exposure and causation, which it left for a jury.
• Parker Hannifin Corp. v. Standard Motor Products, Inc. (2019). The court denied Standard Motor Products' motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, dismissed Parker Hannifin's duty-to-settle and 'duty imposed by law' claims and part of its declaratory claim, let the duty-to-defend-on-appeal and good-faith claims proceed, and stayed the unripe indemnity claims.
• Alexander v. Honeywell International, Inc. (2018). The court denied Honeywell's motions in limine to exclude plaintiffs' experts Dr. Bedrossian and Dr. Finkelstein and to dismiss the claims, so both experts may testify; plaintiffs won this ruling.
• Ellis v. Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (2018). The court transferred nonparty Bernard Lesneski's motion to quash a deposition and document subpoena to the Middle District of North Carolina, the issuing court, and denied Plaintiff Ellis's motion to strike Lesneski's late reply.
• Alexander v. Honeywell International, Inc. (2017). The court denied Honeywell International's motion for summary judgment on product identification, so the plaintiffs' claims over Bendix brakes go forward; it also denied the plaintiffs' motion to amend the schedule for Honeywell's expert reports.
• French v. AW Chesterton Company (2017). The court granted Green Tweed & Company's motion to strike Donald French's deposition testimony identifying its Palmetto product and its motion for summary judgment, dismissing all claims against Green Tweed and ruling against plaintiff Charlene French.
• Hart v. Honeywell International (2017). The court granted summary judgment to Genuine Parts and Pneumo Abex on all claims and to all defendants on the common law and failure-to-warn claims, but denied it to Honeywell and Ford on the brake design defect claim, so the plaintiffs' case continued against those two; Ford's sanctions motion was denied.
• Shonkwiler v. AW Chesterton Company (2017). The court granted the Shonkwilers' motion to remand to the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, after dismissing Westinghouse and Warren Pumps, leaving only state law claims.
• Brucker v. CBS Corporation (2016). The court denied Defendant Warren Pumps LLC's Rule 12(b)(7) motion to dismiss for failure to join the California defendants, so the plaintiffs' case continued.
• French v. AW Chesterton Company (2016). The court denied the Frenches' motion to remand, holding that GE and CBS/Westinghouse properly removed the case under the federal officer removal statute and did so on time.
• Jackson v. AC Product Liability Trust (2009). The court denied Farrell Lines' motion for judgment as a matter of law but granted its motion for a new trial, setting aside the $8 million verdict for plaintiff Dorothy Jackson.
• Wille v. AC Product Liability Trust (2007). The court denied the shipowner defendants' and the product defendants' (John Crane; Garlock Sealing, Anchor Packing and Coltec; A. W. Chesterton) motions for summary judgment, leaving the plaintiffs' mesothelioma claims for trial.