While mesothelioma victims and others harmed by asbestos-contaminated talc in Johnson & Johnson’s products continue to await resolution of their injury claims, a separate group of plaintiffs will be allowed to proceed with legal action against the consumer giant. This week a New Jersey bankruptcy judge ruled that the ongoing Chapter 11 case should not stop a fraud lawsuit against the company.
Johnson & Johnson Faces Multiple Asbestos-Related Claims
Though most of the attention regarding asbestos in Johnson & Johnson’s products has focused on the thousands of personal injury claims filed by consumers diagnosed with mesothelioma and ovarian cancer, the judge’s decision specifically addressed another case: A class action fraud claim led by the family of a worker who died years ago following exposure to the company’s industrial talc.
The class action lawsuit refers back to a case filed against the company by a man who initially filed an asbestosis suit against Johnson & Johnson in 1986. In the Edley case, charges were dropped after the company produced sworn testimony indicating that no tests had ever found asbestos in Johnson & Johnson’s industrial talc. Mr. Edley later died, and his family now wants to represent themselves as well as countless workers whose industrial talc exposure claims were subsequently dismissed based on that deception.
Mesothelioma Victims’ Claims Against Johnson & Johnson Stalled by Bankruptcy Proceeding
Though U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan granted an injunction enjoining mesothelioma and ovarian cancer victims from pursuing their personal injury claims while the company’s subsidiary’s Chapter 11 proceedings moved forward, he agreed that the fraud claims were distinct and separate. The personal injury asbestos claims drove the company to establish LTL Management LLC and then have the newly formed company file for bankruptcy.
Judge Kaplan agreed that LTL would not be indemnified against claims from the plaintiffs whose mesothelioma and asbestosis claims were impacted by the company’s alleged fraud, and as a result allowed the case to move forward.
If you or someone you love has been sickened by exposure to asbestos, you need help standing up to the powerful corporations whose decisions were responsible for your illness. For more information, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net today at 1-800-692-8608.
