Asbestos and Colon Cancer: Asbestos Court Decisions

Decisions in our case-law library that involve colon cancer: 20 cases, by state. Each line gives the exposure the court described, or else what it decided. For the topic itself, see Asbestos and Colon Cancer.

California

• Duty v. Trz Realty, LLC (1st Appellate District, 3rd Division, 2017). The Court of Appeal reversed the judgment (nonsuit) for TRZ Realty, LLC after the trial court excluded plaintiffs' causation expert, remanded for further proceedings, and dismissed TRZ's consolidated appeal over expert fees as moot.

Illinois

• Nelson v. Aurora Equipment Company (2nd District, 2009). Affirmed the circuit court's summary judgment for Aurora Equipment Company, holding it owed no premises-liability duty to Eva Nelson's estate, which lost.
• Betts v. Manville Personal Injury Trust (4th District, 1992). The appellate court reversed the plaintiffs' jury judgments against the Manville Trust and against Grefco and remanded for new trials, but affirmed the dismissals, summary judgment, directed verdicts and setoff ruling that went against Dietrich, Smith, the Mendiolas and Stewart.

Louisiana

• Adams v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. (1st Circuit, 2005). The appeals court affirmed dismissal of Jefferson's tort claim against Cooper/T. Smith for asbestosis but reversed dismissal of his other claims, including colon cancer, and remanded.

Maryland

• Adams v. Owens-Illinois (1998). The Court of Special Appeals affirmed the Baltimore City jury verdicts, which were for the defendants in seven cases and for the plaintiffs in the Parsons and Drebing mesothelioma cases, and ordered the appellants to pay costs.
• Smith v. Bethlehem Steel Corp. (1985). The Court of Appeals of Maryland answered two certified questions: workers' compensation § 58 does not toll limitations until an award is made, and a later colon cancer claim can be a separate cause of action accruing on discovery if the cancer is a latent disease distinct from asbestosis. Appellee asbestos suppliers prevailed on the first question and the Smiths on the second.

Nebraska

• Butler v. Union Pacific R. Co. (2020). The district court denied Union Pacific's motion for summary judgment, holding that Butler's 2011 asbestosis release did not bar his FELA claim for colorectal cancer, so Butler prevailed on the motion.

New Jersey

• Landrigan v. Celotex Corp. (1991). The New Jersey Supreme Court reversed the Appellate Division, set aside the directed verdict for Owens-Corning and Owens Illinois, and remanded for retrial, so plaintiff Angelina Landrigan won.

New York

• Albin v. Mannington Mills (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2019). The court denied Mannington Mills, Inc.'s motion for summary judgment dismissing the Albins' complaint and all cross-claims against it, so the plaintiffs prevailed on the motion.
• Gallagher v. American Biltrite (In re New York City Asbestos Litigation) (2019). The court denied American Biltrite, Inc.'s motion for summary judgment dismissing the Gallagher plaintiffs' complaint and all cross-claims, so the plaintiffs' claims against it go forward.
• Matter of Adesso v. AO Smith Water Prods. Co. (2018). The court granted plaintiffs' motion in part, ordering joint trials for Cerato/Lynch, McCormick/Munnelly, Kalachman/Rothman, Hickey/Litz, George/Toy, Hutnick/Soto and Hill/Lipari, and denied joinder for Swanson/Whitaker, Hiddie/Rose, Costa/Endelmann, Lehanka/Snider, Bascomb/Gallagher and for adding Scott to Hill and Lipari, over the defendants' opposition.
• Montebianco v. AO Smith Corp. (2018). The court denied the plaintiffs' motion to consolidate the Montebianco and Reilly asbestos cases for a joint trial, so the defendants prevailed on the motion.
• Dietz v. Fulton Boilerworks (Matter of New York City Asbestos Litig.) (2010). The court granted the plaintiffs' motion in part, consolidating the Dietz and Pearce actions for a joint trial against the remaining defendants; the Cole and Dosch actions had settled.
• Maiorana v. United States Mineral Prods. Co. (In re Joint Eastern & Southern Dist. Asbestos Lit.) (1995). The Second Circuit reversed the district court's judgment as a matter of law for United States Mineral Products and reinstated the plaintiff's jury verdict, affirmed rulings against the contractor third-party defendants, and remanded so plaintiff could choose between the remittitur and a new trial.
• Maiorana v. United States Mineral Prods. Co. (In re Joint Eastern & Southern Dist. Asbestos Lit.) (1993). The district court granted the defendants' motions for judgment as a matter of law, setting aside the $4,510,000 jury verdict for plaintiff Arlene Maiorana because her causation proof for colon cancer was insufficient; it also ruled that, if reversed on appeal, the damages would be reduced and indemnity and new-trial motions denied.

Ohio

• 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.
• Welsh v. Ford Motor Co. (8th Appellate District, 2011). The court of appeals affirmed the jury verdict and the denial of directed verdict, JNOV and new trial, so the widow Sylvia Welsh won and Ford Motor Company lost.
• 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.

Pennsylvania

• Carbonaro v. Johns-Manville Corp. (1981). The federal court granted Owens-Corning Fiberglas's motion for summary judgment, holding the plaintiffs' asbestos suit barred by the prior state-court judgment for the defendants, so the plaintiffs lost.

West Virginia

• Newman v. Richardson (1991). The court granted the widows' mandamus petition as molded, ordering the Workers' Compensation Commissioner to reprocess their claims as occupational pneumoconiosis claims and to pay their attorney's fees, but it did not order immediate referral to the Occupational Pneumoconiosis Board.