Utah Asbestos Case Law

Asbestos decisions from Utah's courts and the federal courts there: 19 cases in our library so far. For what the law requires today, see Utah asbestos laws; for where exposure happened, see Utah asbestos exposure sites.

State supreme court

Utah Supreme Court

• Boynton v. Kennecott Utah Copper, LLC (2021). The Utah Supreme Court affirmed the denial of summary judgment to Kennecott, reversed summary judgment for PacifiCorp and Conoco, and remanded, so Larry Boynton's claims against all three go forward.
• Riggs v. Georgia-Pacific LLC (2015). The Utah Supreme Court affirmed the district court's denial of Georgia-Pacific's and Union Carbide's motion to dismiss, holding the heirs' wrongful death suit was not barred by the decedent's earlier personal injury judgment, and remanded.
• Kilpatrick v. Bullough Abatement, Inc. (2008). The Utah Supreme Court reversed the district court's dismissal of both the Kilpatrick and Kirkham asbestos cases, ruling for the plaintiffs (the widows) against the defendants (Bullough, BNSF, Hamilton Materials and others), because no finding of willfulness supported the autopsy-requirement sanction.
• Tisco Intermountain v. Industrial Com'n of Utah (1987). The Utah Supreme Court vacated the Industrial Commission's award of death benefits to Jean Werner, finding no substantial credible evidence that her husband was last injuriously exposed to asbestos while working for Tisco, so Tisco and the State Insurance Fund prevailed.

State appeals courts

Utah Court of Appeals

• Felix v. Novelis Corp. (2019). The Utah Court of Appeals reversed the district court's denial of Novelis Corporation's motion to dismiss, holding the Estate failed to show sufficient minimum contacts for specific personal jurisdiction in Utah.
• Riggs v. Asbestos Corp. Ltd. (2013). The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court: the Liability Reform Act applied rather than the Comparative Negligence Act, and Union Carbide's JNOV motion and Georgia-Pacific's directed verdict motion were properly denied, so the jury's verdict for the plaintiff stood.
• One Beacon American v. Huntsman Polymers (2012). The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for Huntsman, holding Texas law governed and required the exposure trigger theory, so One Beacon must pay 100% of Huntsman's defense and settlement costs.
• Luckau v. Board of Review (1992). The Utah Court of Appeals reversed the Industrial Commission's denial of occupational disease death benefits to Becky Luckau and remanded for the Commission to reconsider the facts under the court's reading of the Last Injurious Exposure Rule, over a dissent.

Federal district courts

U.S. District Court, District of Utah

• Riegler v. Carlisle Companies, Incorporated (2023). The court granted Ford's motion for summary judgment on all of Plaintiff's claims after excluding Dr. Staggs's specific causation opinion, and granted in part and denied in part the motions to exclude: Ewing's opinion and Staggs's general causation opinion were admitted.
• Hipwell v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. (2022). The district court denied Foster Wheeler's motion for summary judgment on all of Marguerite Hipwell's claims, so the claims against Foster Wheeler go forward.
• Hipwell v. Air & Liquid Systems Corp. (2022). The court denied all three of plaintiff Hipwell's motions in limine, so defendant Foster Wheeler may present evidence of the Navy's negligence and knowledge about asbestos hazards and may offer its corporate witnesses' testimony, subject to later specific objections.
• Sylvester v. Blue Bird Corporation (2022). The court granted summary judgment to Federal Mogul Asbestos Personal Injury Trust (successor to Fel-Pro) and Morse TEC LLC (successor to Borg-Warner) against the plaintiffs, finding no genuine dispute that Mr. Labrum was exposed to their asbestos products.
• Anderson v. Ford Motor Company (2014). The court denied Crane Co.'s and York International's motions for leave to file a dispositive motion on the bare metal defense, leaving the plaintiff's claims to proceed to trial.
• Anderson v. Ford Motor Company (2014). The district court denied Crane Co.'s motion, joined by other defendants, to exclude plaintiff Arva Anderson's expert Dr. Abraham's specific causation testimony, so the plaintiff prevailed on the motion.
• Anderson v. Ford Motor Company (2013). The magistrate judge granted in part and denied in part the plaintiff's motion for leave to file an additional expert report: she may serve a new medical causation expert report within 45 days, but the expert may not give 'every exposure' testimony.
• Anderson v. Ford Motor Company (2013). The court granted Crane Co.'s renewed motion, joined by York, Honeywell, Goulds Pumps, Flowserve and Sepco, and excluded the plaintiff's experts' "every exposure" specific causation testimony, a ruling for the defendants over Arva Anderson.
• Smith v. Ford Motor Company (2013). The district court granted Ford Motor Company's motion to exclude the testimony of plaintiff's expert, Dr. Samuel Hammar, finding his "every exposure" causation opinion inadmissible, which went against plaintiff Linda Smith.
• Larson v. Bondex International, Inc. (2011). The court granted plaintiffs' motion in limine, barring defendants from mentioning Dianna Larson's ex-husband's murder conviction or the book about it at voir dire and trial.
• Anderson v. Asbestos Defendants (In re Asbestos Cases OF Hatch) (2007). The district court denied the plaintiffs' motion for relief and continued to defer ruling on their motion to remand, leaving the case to the MDL court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania after the conditional transfer order.