A lawsuit filed by the family of mesothelioma victim Terry Legendre is scheduled to begin next week in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. As the trial date approaches, both the victim’s family and the defendant companies have sought to exclude testimony from each other’s expert witnesses. The judge hearing the arguments denied the requests from both sides.
Mesothelioma Victim Blamed Asbestos Exposure from Family Members’ Clothing
Mr. Legendre died of malignant mesothelioma in July of 2022. The lawsuit filed by his family cites his exposure to asbestos during the three months he worked for Avondale Shipyard and his exposure to asbestos on the clothing of family members who worked for Avondale and other Avondale employees he was friends with and socialized with when he was not employed by Avondale.
Both the plaintiffs and the defending companies plan to enter expert witness testimony about these exposures and their impact, and both sides filed objections to the other’s witnesses. Several defendants asked the court to limit the testimony of two physicians and a certified industrial hygienist who planned to testify about the victim’s interactions with his cousin and whether it would have exposed him to enough asbestos to cause his illness; the victim’s family similarly wants to limit testimony from the asbestos companies’ witness, an anatomic pathologist who would testify that only asbestos from Mr. Legendre’s father’s clothing would have played a role in his illness.
Court Denies Both Requests in Mesothelioma Claim
The judge who will be hearing the mesothelioma case reviewed both sides’ requests and the rules regarding expert witness testimony. He found that all the witnesses are qualified to testify and denied all the requests to limit their testimony. In his opinion, he wrote that it is “’the role of the adversarial system, not the court, to highlight weak evidence’ and that the fact that opposing parties do not agree with the facts relied upon by the experts or their interpretation of those facts does not render their opinions irrelevant or unreliable.”
The mesothelioma lawsuit and the testimony from all the scheduled expert witnesses will be heard by a jury, whose members will determine which argument and evidence to rely upon.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net are here to help. Contact us today at 1-800-692-8608 to learn more.
