Wilburn Freeman died of malignant mesothelioma after years of working with asbestos-containing products, including Georga Pacific’s pre-mixed joint compound. When his family pursued a claim against the company, they filed a motion to have it dismissed, arguing that the product was not on the market in the years cited in the lawsuit. Based on Freeman’s son’s childhood memories, the Delaware judge hearing the case rejected the company’s petition.
Mesothelioma Claims Victim’s Life Before Deposition
Because Mr. Freeman died of his mesothelioma before he could provide deposition testimony about the products that he’d used, there was little proof of the products he’d used. However, his son Jackie recalled having worked with his father as a child, when the family lived in North Carolina. He said his father asked him to help with renovation and construction projects in the 1960s and 1970s.
The mesothelioma victim’s son indicated that his father had always used a Georgia-Pacific pre-mixed joint compound packaged in a white tub- or bucket-type plastic container on his jobs. Pointing to this testimony, Georgia Pacific asked for the case against them to be dismissed, submitting evidence that they had not used the referenced pails until 1978.
Court Rejects Motion for Summary Judgment in Mesothelioma Case
Despite Georgia Pacific’s argument, the court denied the company’s motion to have the mesothelioma claim against them dismissed. They pointed to the requirement that a defending company demonstrate that there are no material facts in the case against them and that North Carolina Law – which applies because it is where the victim said his exposure took place – requires the plaintiff to demonstrate actual exposure to an asbestos-containing product.
Because the mesothelioma victim’s son “clearly and repeatedly identified the joint compound his father used as a Georgia-Pacific product and because the company had not denied that its product contained asbestos during the time specified, the judges concluded that there was a genuine dispute of material that would need to be decided by a jury. The court noted that Georgia-Pacific’s attorneys had used a “false dichotomy” in its argument and that there could be many reasons why the son had described the containers, including that they could have been repackaged or that so much time had gone by from the son’s childhood that he had associated the earlier product with more recent packaging.
If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, it is important to be supported by people who understand your needs. Contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net today at 1-800-692-8608.
