Asbestos Law Blog - Information and news for asbestos & mesothelioma victims

Earlier this month, the California Supreme Court heard oral argument in O'Neil v. Crane Co. How the CA Supreme Court decides the case will likely either expand or limit the duty of the product manufacturers to warn about the hazards of replacement parts that others made but that are then incorporated by the purchaser in the manufacturer's original product.

O'Neil is a case about a plaintiff's exposure to asbestos-containing gaskets and packing materials used in and around Crane Co's valves and pumps, which the Navy incorporated into the steam propulsion system aboard the USS Oriskany. The plaintiff had served on the Oriskany while he was enlisted.

Though the pumps and valves delivered to the Navy originally incorporated asbestos-containing gaskets and packing, all parties agreed that by the time plaintiff served aboard the Oriskany, the original asbestos packing and gaskets had been removed and replaced with packing and gaskets manufactured by third parties. Nevertheless, the plaintiff argued the pump and valve manufacturers had a duty to warn him regarding the hazards of asbestos. 

The Court did not appear to sit well with the proposition that the pumps and valves could be deemed defectively designed if the pumps and valves were “asbestos neutral,” and could function just as well in other systems utilizing non-asbestos containing materials.

This may be a large focus for the court with regard to assigning a duty to warn about replacement parts made by others only if the replacement part is identical to the original hazardous part, and the replacement part is essential to the function of the defendant’s product. We await the decision, which will come out in about two and a half months from today.

The New York Times reports a federal appeals court ordered the judge overseeing five important asbestos-related bankruptcy proceedings to withdraw from three of the cases because of the appearance of bias. In a 2-to-1 decision, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia ordered Alfred M. Wolin, a federal district judge in Newark, to end his role in the bankruptcy hearings involving W. R. Grace, Owens Corning and U.S. Gypsum because his handling of the cases had the appearance of bias.

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The Dallas Fort Worth Star-Telegram presented a heart moving story of another asbestos victim in Sunday's May 2 paper. The paper further reports school maintenance workers may be at increased risk for developing diseases related to prolonged exposure to asbestos.

Reading the story, your heart has to go out to this custodian worker:

As Randall Blevins was recovering from surgery, doctors told his wife that the patches indicated exposure to significant amounts of asbestos. Presumably, they said, the right lung was the same.

That was May 2002, 25 years after Blevins began working as a heating and air-conditioning technician for the Fort Worth school district. He fixed boilers and repaired pipes -- products often encased in asbestos.

Blevins, 50, believes that his lung disease stemmed from his work for the district because he knows of no other contact with asbestos dust.

From 1977, when he was hired, until about 1982, when the district stepped up its precautions, he handled asbestos without thinking. Blevins said he and the district's other boiler-room workers hit it with their wrenches and ripped it off pipes with their bare hands while crawling under buildings. Each time, the white shards cascaded into their hair, eyes, noses and mouths.

"We would handle asbestos like it was nothing," said Blevins, who lives in Southlake. "Might have on only paper masks."

Blevins said he appears to be the only one in his maintenance team who has been diagnosed with asbestos-related symptoms. But asbestos illnesses typically don't show up until decades later, and Blevins' illness gives some of his co-workers pause.

"I look at him and think, 'That could be me,' " said Arthur Cox, the district's heating and air-conditioning foreman.

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An Illinois circuit judge facing scrutiny from pro-business and pro-industry groups handed over his docket, asking that his county’s asbestos lawsuits be handled by another judge, according to a recent article in the Belleville News-Democrat.

Nicholas Byron ruled the Madison County Circuit Court that handles the country’s largest asbestos docket for about 10 years. In 2003 alone, he presided over 953 such cases. As a result, Madison County is notorious for its plaintiff-friendly reputation.

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Two of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the oil, gas, construction and engineering industries won court approval of a restructuring plan that allots a large chunk of money for asbestos-claims settlements, says Bloomberg.

Halliburton Co.’s DII Industries and Kellogg Brown & Root, which handles the engineering and construction services for Halliburton, were approved for a restructuring plan that includes a $4.2 billion settlement of asbestos claims.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Judith Fitzgerald of Pittsburgh approved the plan, along with the almost 400,000 claimants suing the company.

Most asbestos lawsuits against Halliburton stemmed from its 1998 $6.2 billion purchase of Dresser Industries, which was renamed DII, says Bloomberg.