Brake Manufacturer Must Face Jury in Woman’s Mesothelioma Death After Court Overturns Earlier Dismissal

Joan Smith died of malignant mesothelioma, a fatal form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Her family blamed her illness on second-hand exposure suffered when laundering her husband’s work clothes, and filed suit against the companies whose products he’d worked with. Though a brake manufacturer that supplied her husband’s work products successfully had the case against them dismissed, Mrs. Smith’s family appealed that decision, and the Court of Appeal of Florida agreed that the case should move forward to a jury.

Mack Truck

Second-Hand Exposure to Asbestos on Husband’s Work Clothes Led to Woman’s Mesothelioma 

Malignant mesothelioma is traditionally considered an occupational disease, and is most frequently diagnosed in those who worked with the carcinogenic material. But there’ve been many cases where asbestos fibers that workers carried into their homes on their clothing, hair, and skin sickened their family members. This is known as second-hand asbestos exposure.

For years before her mesothelioma diagnosis, Mrs. Smith had laundered her husband’s work clothing, and her family blamed the asbestos that she shook out of his dusty clothing for her illness and death. Mr. Smith had been a mechanic who performed brake work on Mack heavy trucks from 1969 through 1993, and the family named Carlisle Industrial Brake & Friction, a supplier of Mack-branded brakes, as a defendant in their personal injury claim. 

Company’s Successful Motion to Dismiss Mesothelioma Claim Overturned on Appeal

When Carlisle was first named in the mesothelioma lawsuit, the company filed a motion for summary judgment. They argued that they were not the only third-party manufacturer that Mack had purchased asbestos-contaminated brake linings from, and that therefore there was no evidence that Mrs. Smith had ever been exposed to their specific asbestos products. They asserted that they should not be held responsible, and the trial court agreed and granted their motion.

In response, the family appealed this decision to the Court of Appeal of Florida, producing enough evidence to counter the earlier ruling. They showed that Mrs. Smith had regularly been exposed to Mack-branded brake linings from 1974 to 1979; that Mack had not manufactured its own brake linings but instead had purchased them from authorized suppliers and then sold them as Mack brake linings; that Carlisle had been one of those authorized suppliers; and that Carlisle had sold asbestos- contaminated brake linings to Mack from 1974 to 1979. Though Carlisle argued that there were eleven other authorized suppliers at various points in time, the court said that because the family presented evidence showing that it was more likely than not that she’d been exposed to Carlisle’s products, the case needed to be decided by a jury. 

If you or someone you love has been sickened by asbestos, the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net can provide you with the resources you need. Contact us today at 1-800-692-8608.

Terri Heimann Oppenheimer

Terri Oppenheimer

Writer
Terri Heimann Oppenheimer is the head writer of our Mesothelioma.net news blog. She graduated from the College of William and Mary with a degree in English. Terri believes that knowledge is power and she is committed to sharing news about the impact of mesothelioma, the latest research and medical breakthroughs, and victims’ stories.

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