Bare Metal Defense

The Bare Metal Defense is a liability argument raised by manufacturers of pumps, valves, turbines, boilers, and similar equipment that were originally sold without asbestos but were later insulated, gasketed, or packed with asbestos-containing parts made by other companies. The manufacturer argues it should not be liable for a worker's asbestos disease because the asbestos that caused the exposure was added or replaced by someone else after the equipment left its factory.

Origin

The phrase comes from the litigation shorthand describing equipment as it left the factory floor, "bare metal," without the lagging, gaskets, or packing that would later be added. The defense rose to prominence in U.S. asbestos litigation in the 1990s and 2000s, especially in Navy and shipyard cases, and was significantly shaped by the U.S. Supreme Court's 2019 decision in Air & Liquid Systems Corp. v. DeVries, which limited the defense in maritime cases.

Significance in Asbestos Context

If you worked on industrial equipment (particularly Navy ships, power plants, refineries, or factories) you were often exposed not to asbestos built into the original machine, but to asbestos insulation, gaskets, and packing added during installation or replaced during maintenance. The Bare Metal Defense is how those equipment manufacturers try to avoid responsibility, even when their own engineering specifications required asbestos parts. Whether this defense succeeds in your case depends heavily on the state you file in and on what the manufacturer knew about the asbestos parts that would be used with its product. Your legal team will likely need to gather original equipment manuals, military specifications, maintenance records, and corporate documents showing the manufacturer specified, supplied, or expected asbestos components to be used.

Example Sentence

The pump manufacturer raised the Bare Metal Defense, but the plaintiff's attorneys produced 1960s technical manuals showing the company instructed users to install asbestos packing and replace it with the same asbestos material.

Related Terms

Duty to Warn, Product Liability, Causation, Successor Liability, Foreseeability, Component Parts Doctrine

Notes

• If you worked around pumps, valves, turbines, boilers, or similar equipment, try to identify the equipment manufacturers by name and model. Original manuals, nameplates, or photos can be critical in defeating this defense.
• Ask family members or former coworkers whether they remember the brand of insulation, gaskets, or packing used, and whether the equipment's own manuals or instructions called for asbestos parts.
• Outcomes vary sharply by jurisdiction: some state courts (e.g., California, Washington, Maryland) and federal maritime law under DeVries allow liability when asbestos use was foreseeable or required; others apply the defense strictly.
• If you served in the U.S. Navy, preserve any service records, ship assignments, and MOS/rating information. These help your attorneys obtain Navy specifications that often required asbestos insulation on specific equipment.