Tennessee Asbestos Case Law

Asbestos decisions from Tennessee's courts and the federal courts there: 30 cases in our library so far. For what the law requires today, see Tennessee asbestos laws; for where exposure happened, see Tennessee asbestos exposure sites.

State supreme court

Tennessee Supreme Court

• Coffman v. Armstrong International, Inc. (2021). The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed in part the Court of Appeals, reinstated the trial court's summary judgment for the equipment manufacturers on failure-to-warn claims about asbestos products made and sold by others, and remanded, so the Coffmans lost on this issue.
• Payne v. CSX Transportation, Inc. (2015). The Tennessee Supreme Court held that the trial judge wrongly granted CSX a new trial on liability and that the plaintiff's expert proof on causation was admissible. It affirmed the Court of Appeals as modified and remanded for a new trial on damages only.
• Segroves v. Union Carbide (2015). The Tennessee Supreme Court (through its Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel) reversed the trial court's summary judgment for employer Union Carbide and Martin Marietta Energy System and remanded the employee Jimmy Segroves's asbestosis claim for further proceedings.
• Lively EX rel. Lively v. Union Carbide Corporation (2013). The Tennessee Supreme Court (through its Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel) affirmed the trial court: the widow, Armethia Lively, recovered only funeral expenses from Union Carbide because the 1982 date of injury capped her benefits below her husband's $90,000 settlement.
• Kelley v. Union Carbide Corporation (2011). The Tennessee Supreme Court (through its Special Workers' Compensation Appeals Panel) affirmed the trial court's award of death benefits to the widow, Naomi Kelley, rejecting Union Carbide's argument that the 1991 settlement barred her claim, and upheld the trial court's method of calculating the weekly benefit rate.
• Nye v. Bayer Cropscience, Inc. (2011). The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals, holding North Brothers could be sued in strict liability and that the jury instruction was reversible error, and reversed the trial court's judgment for North Brothers and remanded for a new trial in favor of widow Evelyn Nye.
• Satterfield v. Breeding Insulation Company (2008). The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals, which had reversed the trial court's judgment on the pleadings for Alcoa, and remanded the estate's claim against Alcoa for further proceedings.
• Correll v. EI DuPont de Nemours & Co. (2006). The Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed the chancellor's rulings for DuPont on subrogation against the wrongful death recovery, the Social Security offset, the Medicare lien and attorneys' fees, and remanded for the trial court to allocate the portion of the recovery attributable to Mrs. Correll's loss of consortium claim and to hear proof of medical expenses.
• Lynch v. CF Industries, Inc. (2004). The Tennessee Supreme Court adopted the Appeals Panel's findings and affirmed the trial court's denial of death benefits to Wanda Lynch, the widow, in favor of employer CF Industries, finding the worker died of congestive heart failure unrelated to his employment.
• Mackie v. Young Sales Corp. (2001). The Tennessee Supreme Court rejected the Appeals Panel's findings, held that James Mackie's voluntary retirement did not bar workers' compensation benefits, and affirmed the trial court's award for Dorothy Mackie based on the maximum weekly rate, against Young Sales Corporation.
• Ingram v. Aetna Cas. and Sur. Co. (1994). The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed the dismissal of Ingram's workers' compensation claim, held he was entitled to employer-paid medical benefits for periodic pulmonary exams and related treatment, found his disability claim not yet ripe, and remanded to determine the medical benefits due.
• Potts v. Celotex Corp. (1990). Answering questions certified by the Sixth Circuit, the Tennessee Supreme Court held that the one-year limitations period did not bar Elizabeth Potts's mesothelioma claim against Celotex and the other asbestos product defendants, so the plaintiff prevailed on the limitations question.

State appeals courts

Tennessee Court of Appeals

• Welch v. Welch (2021). The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's dismissal of the petition by Charles Welch's children, who wanted the West Virginia settlement proceeds treated as wrongful death proceeds; the wife and daughter (respondents) prevailed.
• Davis v. 3M Company (2020). The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's judgment against Ameron International Corporation, holding that the $750,000 noneconomic damages cap was properly applied before apportioning fault, which left Mrs. Davis with $115,247.91.
• Coffman v. Armstrong International, Inc. (2019). The Tennessee Court of Appeals vacated all the summary judgments the trial court had granted to Daniel International, John Crane and the equipment makers, so the Coffmans won on appeal, and it remanded the case for further proceedings.
• Stockton v. Ford Motor Company (2017). The Court of Appeals vacated the $3.4 million judgment for Joyce and Ronnie Stockton against Ford Motor Company and remanded, because the jury instructions and verdict form omitted required questions on whether the product was defective or unreasonably dangerous and whether the injury was foreseeable.
• Russell v. Illinois Central Railroad Company (2015). The Court of Appeals affirmed the jury verdict for the widow, Linda Russell, against Illinois Central Railroad, rejecting the railroad's challenges to expert testimony, causation, evidentiary rulings, limitations and the new-trial motions. It also upheld the trial court's $919,315 set-off for medical expenses, so the widow's cross-appeal failed.
• Blackmon v. Illinois Central Railroad Company (2014). The Tennessee Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's summary judgment for Illinois Central Railroad, which had been based on a release from an earlier asbestosis settlement, and remanded for further proceedings, so the widow's FELA claim continues.
• Nye v. Bayer Cropscience, Inc. (2009). The Court of Appeals reversed the judgment for North Brothers entered on the jury's verdict and remanded for a new trial, because the jury instruction on failure to warn was erroneous; this favored the widow, Evelyn Nye.
• Woody v. AW Chesterton Company (2008). The Court of Appeals reversed the denial of summary judgment for the defendants as to claims from pre-release asbestos exposure, which the 1980 release barred, but left Rebecca Woody's claims from post-release exposure standing.
• Satterfield v. Breeding Insulation Company, Inc. (2007). The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's judgment on the pleadings for Alcoa and reinstated the estate's claims against Alcoa for further proceedings.
• Denton v. Southern Ry. Co. (Eastern Section, 1993). The Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment dismissing Norfolk Southern Corporation, but reversed the $25,000 jury verdict for Denton against Southern Railway and remanded for a new trial because of an erroneous causation/damages instruction and the exclusion of fear-of-cancer and cancer-monitoring evidence.
• Daniels v. Combustion Engineering, Inc. (Eastern Section, 1978). The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment on a jury verdict for the defendant insulation manufacturers, overruling all of plaintiffs Thomas and Oma Daniels' assignments of error.

Federal appeals courts

U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

• Frazier v. Jackson (2014). The Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the defendant attorneys and law firms, holding that Donna Frazier's legal malpractice suit was filed too late under Tennessee's one-year limitations period.
• Clay v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp. (1983). The Sixth Circuit stayed the appeal as to bankrupt Johns-Manville, vacated the jury verdicts for Raybestos-Manhattan and remanded for retrial, so the Clay and Bailey plaintiffs won on appeal.

Federal district courts

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee

• US v. Fillers (2012). The court denied the defendants' objections to a nine-level sentencing enhancement under USSG § 2Q1.2(b)(2), ruling for the United States and against Fillers, Wood and Mathis.
• Potts v. Celotex Corp. (1988). The district court granted summary judgment to all defendants, including Celotex, and dismissed Elizabeth Potts's mesothelioma suit as barred by Tennessee's one-year statute of limitations.
• Johnson County, Tenn. v. US Gypsum Co. (1984). The court adopted the magistrate's recommendation and granted in part the manufacturers' motions to dismiss: Johnson County's warranty, Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, nuisance and declaratory relief claims were dismissed, while its negligence, strict liability, fraud and punitive damages claims survived.

U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee

• Cashio v. 3M Company (2015). The district court granted the plaintiffs' motion to transfer venue under 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a) and transferred the case to the Western District of Louisiana, rejecting the defendants' request for reconsideration.
• Cashio v. 3M Company (2015). The court granted the plaintiffs' motion and transferred the case from the Middle District of Tennessee to the Western District of Louisiana at Shreveport under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), over the defendants' pending personal-jurisdiction motions.