Pleural mesothelioma victim Michael Wagner blames multiple companies for having exposed him to the asbestos that caused his fatal illness. Among those named in his personal injury lawsuit is American Biltrite, the manufacturer of asbestos-contaminated vinyl tiles that he worked with in the 1960s. Though the company argued against this assertion, Justice Adam Silvera of the Supreme Court of New York County denied the company’s motion for dismissal, agreeing with Wagner that their request fell short of what would have been required for them to escape a jury trial.
Tile Company Files Motion for Summary Judgment in Mesothelioma Claim
A motion for summary judgment is a legal petition that argues there are no real issues to be decided at trial, and that the party filing the motion should be dismissed from the claim. In a mesothelioma lawsuit, when a company files such a motion they are usually arguing that the victim’s claim lacks sufficient evidence to support it, but the bar for this argument is high: The law requires the moving party to show that there is no way that they could have been responsible for what they’ve been accused of.
In Mr. Wagner’s mesothelioma claim, he blames the asbestos in American Biltrite’s tiles for having caused his illness. The company’s petition points to an industrial hygienist’s study conducted in 2007 that shows that snapping and scoring their floor tiles would not have exposed a victim to sufficient levels of asbestos to cause their illness. But Mr. Wagner was an apprentice installer in the 1960s, and his responsibilities included sanding the tiles – an action that created far more dust and greater risk than the work circumstances recreated in the original study. The victim argued that the difference meant that American Biltrite had failed to meet the required burden for summary judgment.
Judge Denies Motion for Summary Judgment in Mesothelioma Claim
In reviewing both parties’ arguments and the standards required for granting summary judgment, Justice Adam Silvera of the Supreme Court of New York County decided in favor of the mesothelioma victim’s argument. He noted that the law required “all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party” and that “it is moving defendant’s burden “to unequivocally establish that its product could not have contributed to the causation of plaintiffs injury.”
Based on this requirement, he denied the tile company’s argument, noting that Mr. Wagner’s exposure was different from that cited in its argument. As a result, the case will move forward to be heard by a jury. It is scheduled to be heard next week, on May 7th.
If you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease and you need information on your rights or options, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net today at 1-800-692-8608.
