Oregon Asbestos Case Law

Asbestos decisions from Oregon's courts and the federal courts there: 31 cases in our library so far. For what the law requires today, see Oregon asbestos laws; for where exposure happened, see Oregon asbestos exposure sites.

State supreme court

Oregon Supreme Court

• Beneficiaries of Estate of Strametz v. Spectrum (1997). The Oregon Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and affirmed the Workers' Compensation Board's order denying the claim against Spectrum Motorwerks, Ltd. and SAIF, so the claimant's estate lost.
• Matter of Compensation of Fossum (1982). The Oregon Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals, holding that Kaiser, the last shipbuilder employer, was solely liable and that the State Accident Insurance Fund was its responsible carrier, so the widow Helen Fossum won against SAIF.
• Matter of Fossum (1980). The Oregon Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, which had held the widow's claim time-barred, and remanded so that court could decide whether the Workers' Compensation Board was right to find no causation; the widow prevailed on the timeliness question over the State Accident Insurance Fund and the insurers.

State appeals courts

Oregon Court of Appeals

• Ibarra v. CH Murphy/clark-Ullman, Inc. (2024). The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's partial summary judgment for plaintiff Brenda Ibarra on defendant Ameron's workers' compensation exclusive remedy defense and remanded; plaintiff's cross-appeal was dismissed.
• Miller v. Agripac, Inc. (2022). The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of about $5.2 million for Donald and Linda Miller against Kaiser Gypsum, rejecting Kaiser Gypsum's challenges to the recklessness instruction and the denial of a directed verdict, and holding any error on joint and several liability harmless.
• Hoff v. Certainteed Corp. (2021). The Court of Appeals of Oregon affirmed the judgment for plaintiffs Patricia Hoff and the estate of David Hoff against Kaiser Gypsum, rejecting Kaiser Gypsum's challenges to the denial of a directed verdict, the post-trial amendment ruling, and the consortium damages award.
• Laux v. Akebono Brake Corp. (2021). The Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for the Yamaha defendants because the plaintiff, Marilee Laux, did not present enough evidence that Yamaha brake-friction materials contained asbestos; one judge dissented.
• Golik v. CBS Corp. (2020). The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's order granting Georgia-Pacific (as successor to Crown Zellerbach) a new trial and vacating the judgment for Golik's estate, and also affirmed the denial of Georgia-Pacific's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
• McKenzie v. AW Chesterson Co. (2016). The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed the summary judgment that the trial court had granted to Warren Pumps on the McKenzies' strict liability, negligence and loss of consortium claims, and remanded for further proceedings.
• Greer v. Ace Hardware Corporation (2013). The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for Georgia-Pacific, Backstrom Builders Center and The Miller Lumber Co. against the estate of Russell Greer, because the record had no evidence that he used an asbestos-containing product made or supplied by them.
• Portland General Electric Company v. Ebasco Services, Inc. (2012). The Court of Appeals reversed the denial of Lexington Insurance Company's motion to set aside the default judgment, holding the judgment void, and vacated the supplemental fee judgment in favor of Portland General Electric.
• Griffin v. Allis-Chalmers Corporation Product Liability Trust (2010). The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's summary judgment for Union Carbide and remanded, ruling for plaintiff Craig Steadman's estate against Union Carbide.
• Mason v. Mt. St. Joseph, Inc. (2009). The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's dismissal of the estate's claims against General Electric, holding they were not product liability civil actions and were therefore barred by Oregon's 10-year negligence statute of ultimate repose.
• Dahlke v. Cascade Acoustics, Inc. (2007). The Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for FMD Corporation and Drake Management Company, rejecting the estate's claims against the dissolved corporation and its alleged successor.
• IN the Matter of Compensation OF Solberg (2007). The Court of Appeals affirmed the Workers' Compensation Board's order upholding the employers' denial of claimant Solberg's occupational disease claim for pleural plaques, because he had no 'disease'.
• Union Bank OF California, NA v. Copeland Lumber Yards, Inc. (2007). Affirmed summary judgment for Dowman Products, holding that the estate of Morris Nagl could not bring a wrongful death action against Dowman after Nagl had already won a personal injury judgment against it for the same exposure.
• Weihl v. Asbestos Corporation, Ltd. (2006). The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's summary judgment and dismissal for the defendant contractors, ruling against the plaintiff, the estate of William Weihl.
• West v. Allied Signal, Inc. (2005). The Court of Appeals reversed the summary judgment granted to La Grand Industrial Supply Co. and remanded, ruling the plaintiff (the estate of Wendell West) had enough evidence for a jury to find La Grand supplied the asbestos gloves.
• Purcell v. Asbestos Corp., Ltd. (1998). The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment for plaintiff (the estate of John Purcell) against Owens-Corning Fiberglas and E.J. Bartells on the defendants' appeal and on plaintiff's cross-appeal, rejecting the claims of error from both sides.
• Estate of Strametz v. Spectrum Motor., Inc. (1995). The Court of Appeals reversed the Workers' Compensation Board's order upholding the employers' denial of the mesothelioma claim and remanded for reconsideration, a win for the claimant's estate over Spectrum Motorwerks and SAIF.
• Brown v. Saif (1986). The Court of Appeals affirmed the Workers' Compensation Board's order reinstating SAIF's denial of claimant Brown's claim for medical services, so SAIF won and Brown lost.
• Matter of Fossum (1980). Affirmed the Workers' Compensation Board's denial of James Fossum's occupational disease claims and his widow's death benefit claims, which were time-barred, so the State Accident Insurance Fund and the other employers/insurers prevailed.

Federal appeals courts

U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

• Long v. Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation (2025). The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's order remanding Richard Long's case to Oregon state court, rejecting Foster Wheeler's federal officer removal and admiralty jurisdiction arguments.

Federal district courts

U.S. District Court, District of Oregon

• Long v. 3M Company (2024). A magistrate judge recommended granting Richard Long's motion to remand his asbestos suit to Multnomah County Circuit Court, rejecting Foster Wheeler's federal officer removal and admiralty arguments.
• Chatfield v. Brenntag North America, Inc. (2023). The district court granted Plaintiff Chatfield's motion to remand to Multnomah County Circuit Court, ruling that in-forum defendant Chang was properly served and not fraudulently joined, so removal by the J&J and Brenntag defendants failed.
• Sheldon v. Cleaver-Brooks, Inc. (2021). The court denied plaintiff Pamela Sheldon's motion to remand to state court, ruling that adding Oregon defendant Murphy did not destroy complete diversity, so Cleaver-Brooks kept the case in federal court; it also granted Cleaver-Brooks leave to file a sur-reply.
• Levin v. Johnson & Johnson (2019). The magistrate judge recommended granting plaintiff Mary Sharon Levin's motion to remand her claims against Johnson & Johnson to Multnomah County Circuit Court on equitable grounds, rejecting J&J's bankruptcy-based removal.
• Levin v. Johnson & Johnson (2019). The court corrected a clerk's error by remanding the claims against all non-J&J defendants to Multnomah County Circuit Court and denied those defendants' motions to dismiss as moot; the claims against J&J stayed in federal court.
• Coury v. Air & Liquid Systems Corporation (2018). The district court denied the estate's second motion to remand and its motion for sanctions, keeping the case in federal court under the federal officer removal statute for General Electric and CBS.
• Laux v. Akebono Brake Industry Co., Ltd. (2015). The district court adopted the magistrate judge's recommendation, granted plaintiff Marilee Laux's motion to remand the case to state court, and denied the Japanese defendants' motion to dismiss as moot, so Akebono Brake Industry and the other defendants lost on removal.
• Schmoll v. ACandS, Inc. (1988). After a bifurcated bench determination on the papers, the court found Raytech Corporation to be a successor in liability to Raymark Industries for its asbestos products, so plaintiff Schmoll won and Raytech lost on that issue.