Asbestos and Lung Cancer: Asbestos Court Decisions

Decisions in our case-law library that involve lung cancer: 256 cases, by state. Each line gives the exposure the court described, or else what it decided. For the topic itself, see Asbestos and Lung Cancer.

Indiana

• Black v. ACandS, Inc. (2001). The court reversed summary judgment for defendants that was based on the ten-year statute of repose, and affirmed summary judgment for Rapid-American, Universal Refractories, ACandS and Brand for lack of product identification evidence, remanding the case.
• Parks v. AP Green Industries, Inc. (2001). The Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for B.M.W., Hunter and Morrison on product identification and upheld the denial of Chicago Firebrick's product-identification motion, but reversed summary judgment for Chicago Firebrick, Uniroyal and Green on the statute of repose and remanded for the Parkses.
• Holmes v. ACandS, Inc. (1999). The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's summary judgment and dismissal in favor of the asbestos defendants, holding Holmes's wrongful death claim was timely, so she (the plaintiff) prevailed.

Kentucky

• Certainteed Corporation v. Dexter (2010). The Kentucky Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and held that the trial court did not err in granting CertainTeed and Garlock a new trial, and it remanded for the Court of Appeals to decide the cross-appeal from the second trial.
• Combs v. Albert Kahn Associates, Inc. (2006). The Kentucky Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for Albert Kahn & Associates and Turner Construction, holding the Combses' lung cancer claims against them were time-barred.
• Parker v. Henry A. Petter Supply Co. (2005). The court vacated summary judgment for Petter Supply and Hannan Supply as premature and remanded for further proceedings, but affirmed the dismissal of Mine Equipment & Mill Supply, so Parker won in part and lost in part.
• Carroll v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. (2000). Answering a question certified by the Sixth Circuit, the Kentucky Supreme Court held that Geraldine Carroll's lung cancer claim was not time-barred, which favors the plaintiff over the asbestos defendants (Owens-Corning and others).

Louisiana

• Craft v. Crowley Marine Services, Inc. (4th Circuit, 2024). The court of appeal granted Crowley Marine Services' writ application and vacated the trial court's judgment that had sustained Climmie Craft's res judicata exception, granted partial summary judgment and struck Crowley's defenses.
• Craft v. Eagle, Inc. (4th Circuit, 2024). The Louisiana Fourth Circuit granted Climmie Craft's writ application, reversed the trial court's rulings limiting her industrial hygiene expert Kenneth Garza to general opinions, and remanded, ruling against the defendants (Ports America Gulfport, Crowley Marine Services and their insurers).
• Evans v. Taylor-Seidenbach, Inc. (2024). The court granted Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products LP's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, ruling against the Evans daughters, who did not oppose it.
• Lewis v. Taylor-Seidenbach, Inc. (2024). The court granted Bayer's unopposed motion for summary judgment and dismissed Avondale's third-party complaint against Bayer with prejudice, because the plaintiffs' 2001 release covered the current asbestos lung cancer claims, while preserving Avondale's right to seek a virile share credit at trial.
• Ragas v. Taylor-Seidenbach, Inc. (2024). The court granted Gulf Engineering Company's unopposed motion for partial summary judgment, dismissing Ellery Ragas's manufacturer, professional vendor and intentional concealment claims against it.
• Allen v. Eagle, Inc. (4th Circuit, 2023). The Louisiana Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit, affirmed summary judgment for Ports America and against the Allen family plaintiffs, finding Mr. Allen's inconsistent deposition testimony was the only opposing evidence and was insufficient to show a factual dispute over his asbestos exposure while working for Ports America.
• Adams v. Eagle, Inc. (2022). The court denied third-party defendant Amchem's motion for summary judgment against Avondale (Huntington Ingalls), finding genuine factual disputes on exposure and causation.
• Adams v. Eagle, Inc. (2022). The court denied Westinghouse's (ViacomCBS) motion for summary judgment against third-party plaintiff Avondale, finding genuine disputes of fact on exposure to Westinghouse's Micarta and on substantial-factor causation.
• Adams v. Eagle, Inc. (2022). The court granted plaintiff Ora Jean Adams's motion for summary judgment, ruling that Avondale (Huntington Ingalls) cannot use the Boyle government contractor defense or Yearsley derivative sovereign immunity against her failure-to-warn and failure-to-prevent-spread claims.
• Allen v. Eagle Inc. (4th Circuit, 2022). The appeals court granted the insurers' writ applications but denied relief, leaving in place the trial court's denial of summary judgment and of the motions in limine, so plaintiffs' claims against Lykes' insurers (Hartford, Lloyd's, Edinburgh) continue.
• Becnel v. Lamorak Insurance Co. (2022). The court denied the summary judgment motions of BMW, Ford, General Electric, Foster Wheeler, ViacomCBS (Westinghouse), Morse TEC (BorgWarner) and Navistar, so the plaintiffs' claims against them continue.
• Becnel v. Lamorak Insurance Co. (2022). The district court denied the summary judgment motions of BMW, Volkswagen and Honeywell (joined by Ford, Pneumo Abex and Morse TEC) and denied the defendants' motions in limine, so the plaintiffs' causation experts could testify, limited to opinions on cumulative asbestos exposure.
• Becnel v. Lamorak Insurance Co. (2022). The court granted the defendants' motions for partial summary judgment, dismissing the Becnel heirs' intentional tort, fraud and concealment claims, and denied Morse TEC's request for oral argument as unnecessary.
• Becnel v. Lamorak Insurance Company (2022). The court denied Morse TEC's motion, joined by many co-defendants, for summary judgment on contributory negligence, so the Becnel family's claims continue.
• Becnel v. Lamorak Insurance Company (2022). The court granted Hopeman's motion for partial summary judgment in part, dismissing the plaintiffs' intentional tort claim, and denied it in part, so the plaintiffs' single business enterprise (alter ego) claim against Hopeman went forward.
• Becnel v. Lamorak Insurance Company (2022). The court denied, without prejudice, defendant American Insurance Company's two summary judgment motions (products hazard exclusion and no exposure during the policy period), leaving plaintiffs' claims against AIC as Eagle's alleged insurer in place.
• Boutte v. Huntington Ingalls Inc. (2022). The court denied McDermott's Rule 12(e) motion for a more definite statement, holding that Huntington Ingalls (Avondale)'s cross-claim against McDermott met Rule 8 pleading standards.
• Dempster v. Lamorak Insurance Co. (2021). The court denied General Electric's motion for summary judgment and reconsideration, finding disputed fact issues about whether the 1991 release covered future lung cancer and wrongful death claims, so the plaintiffs' claims against General Electric continue.
• Hulin v. Huntington Ingalls, Inc. (2021). The district court granted Bayer CropScience's unopposed motion for summary judgment and dismissed plaintiff William Hulin Sr.'s claims against Bayer.
• Lindsay v. Ports America Gulfport, Inc. (4th Circuit, 2021). The appeals court granted the heirs' writ application, vacated the order compelling DNA testing of the heirs and the intervenors, and remanded for an evidentiary hearing, so the heirs prevailed over the intervenors on this point.
• Dempster v. Lamorak Insurance Co. (2020). The federal district court denied the motion by Avondale (Huntington Ingalls), its executive officers' insurer Lamorak and other defendants for partial summary judgment declaring that Mr. Dempster's earlier settlements with 37 non-parties released his lung cancer claims, so the plaintiffs prevailed on the motion.
• Brown v. Avondale Industries, Inc. (2018). The district court granted Gregory Brown's motion to remand and sent the case back to Orleans Parish Civil District Court, rejecting Avondale's federal officer removal.
• Sheppard v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (2017). The court denied Sheppard's motions to exclude settlement and collateral-source evidence, for in limine relief on undeposed experts, for judicial admission on asbestosis, and to exclude the Dr. Smith consultation note, and denied as moot his motion to strike a witness and the defendants' motion for partial summary judgment on asbestosis.
• Sheppard v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (2017). The court granted the defendants' motion and excluded plaintiff Sheppard's treating physicians from giving expert opinion testimony, because he did not make the required Rule 26(a)(2)(C) disclosures; the physicians may offer only lay testimony.
• Sheppard v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (2017). The court granted Liberty Mutual Insurance Company's motion for summary judgment, dismissing plaintiff Sheppard's claims against it in its individual capacity because it owed him no duty.
• Sheppard v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (2017). The court denied Jesse Frank Sheppard's second motion to remand to Louisiana state court and struck his amendments deleting the Caminada allegations, so Mosaic and the other defendants kept the case in federal court.
• Sheppard v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (2017). The court granted Mosaic Global Holdings' motion to dismiss Sheppard's amended fraud claim with prejudice for failure to plead fraud with particularity, and denied Mosaic's motion to strike as moot.
• Boudreaux v. Bollinger Shipyard (4th Circuit, 2016). The appeals court affirmed the trial court's exclusion of the plaintiffs' pathologist and its summary judgment dismissing the Boudreaux family's claims against Trinity Industries and its insurers, so Trinity and the insurers won and the family lost.
• Sheppard v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (2016). The court denied plaintiff Jesse Frank Sheppard's motion to remand, holding that federal jurisdiction under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act was proper, so defendants including Mosaic kept the case in federal court.
• Sheppard v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (2016). The court granted Mosaic Global Holdings' motion to dismiss Sheppard's fraud claim against it under Rule 9(b), without prejudice and with leave to amend within twenty-one days.
• Sheppard v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company (2016). The district court denied Sheppard's appeal and let stand the magistrate judge's order refusing him leave to amend his complaint to drop the Caminada facility allegations, finding the amendment futile and made in bad faith.
• Comardelle v. Pennsylvania General Ins. Co. (2015). The district court granted Amchem's (Bayer CropScience's) motion and barred plaintiffs' expert Dr. Hammar from giving "every exposure" specific-causation testimony that Comardelle's mesothelioma was caused by Benjamin Foster 81-27 or any other particular exposure.
• Comardelle v. Pennsylvania General Insurance Company (2015). The court granted Amchem's (Bayer CropScience) motion and excluded plaintiffs' expert Dr. Hammar's "every exposure" specific-causation testimony, including as to Benjamin Foster 81-27, while allowing his diagnosis and general-causation opinions.
• Comardelle v. Pennsylvania General Insurance Company (2014). The court granted P2S, LLC's motions for summary judgment, dismissing with prejudice the plaintiffs' claims and the Avondale Interests' crossclaims against P2S, and dismissed P2S's alternative motion as moot.
• Comardelle v. Pennsylvania General Insurance Company (2014). The court denied Union Carbide's motion to exclude plaintiffs' pathology expert Dr. Hammar and for summary judgment on causation, so plaintiffs' claims against Union Carbide continued.
• Comardelle v. Pennsylvania General Insurance Company (2014). The court granted partial summary judgment to the Avondale executive officers and their insurers and dismissed plaintiffs' Article 2317 strict liability claims against them with prejudice.
• Comardelle v. Pennsylvania General Insurance Company (2014). The court granted Avondale's (Huntington Ingalls') motion for partial summary judgment and dismissed with prejudice the plaintiffs' Louisiana Civil Code Articles 1821-1823 claims based on the insurance buy-back agreements.
• Comardelle v. Pennsylvania General Insurance Company (2014). The court granted all defendants' motions for partial summary judgment and dismissed with prejudice the family's claims for bystander (Lejeune) damages for watching Comardelle's illness and death.
• Comardelle v. Pennsylvania General Insurance Company (2014). The court denied plaintiff Comardelle's motion to remand, holding that Westinghouse (joined by Foster Wheeler and GE) properly removed the case to federal court under the federal officer removal statute.
• Watts v. Georgia-Pacific Corp. (1st Circuit, 2013). The appeals court amended the judgment to cut the Watts' damages award against Hebert Brothers to one-half (its virile share, with Dow bearing the other half) and otherwise affirmed the jury's $3,625,000 survival award for the plaintiffs, rejecting Hebert Brothers' prescription and excessive-damages arguments.
• Pichon v. Asbestos Defendants (4th Circuit, 2010). The Louisiana Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for Detroit Diesel Corporation, dismissing the Pichon family's asbestos claims against it; one judge dissented.
• Palermo v. Port of New Orleans (4th Circuit, 2007). The appeals court reversed the trial court's bench-trial judgment for the plaintiffs, finding the Dock Board owed no duty and that the evidence did not show Dixie, Buck Kreihs and Eagle substantially contributed to the exposures.
• Palermo v. Port of New Orleans (4th Circuit, 2006). The appeals court reversed the trial court's judgment for the plaintiffs against the Dock Board, Eagle, Buck Kreihs and Dixie, finding no duty on the Dock Board and no proof that the ship repair companies' work substantially contributed to the diseases.