North Carolina asbestos lawsuit tossed out

A case regarding asbestos has come to an end in North Carolina, resulting in a summary judgment for the companies that were acting as defendants. A woman was attempting to bring the case against those companies because she claimed that the products that they made caused a man, for whose estate she has been set up as the representative, to pass away due to asbestos exposure. She said that exposure led him to develop mesothelioma, which was found in 2012. The man in question was in the military, and he served on vessels for the United States Navy. The claims were that parts on those ships used asbestos and that his exposure while serving led to the mesothelioma.

The judge found a few issues with this, starting with the fact that a case involving a ship like this needs to fall under maritime law. However, the main issue was that the woman did not produce evidence – at least none that was considered sufficient – that the man had any level of exposure to asbestos due to the parts that the companies made. She also did not prove that this exposure, if it happened, caused the disease. The judge said that the woman had not responded in a timely fashion to the motions, and so the case has come to an end. Numerous companies were named, and she would have needed evidence in each case. Some of these companies included Caterpillar Inc., Goulds Pumps Inc., McNally Industries and more. Anyone who is involved in a case regarding the wrongful death of a person who was exposed to asbestos must know what is required of them in a legal sense, or they could risk losing a case because of an oversight like not producing evidence before a deadline.

Source: Legal Newsline, “Summary judgment granted in N.C. asbestos case; plaintiff failed to file timely response,” July 11, 2014.