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Eagle-Picher Industries Inc. v. Balbos8/29/1990
g his employment at the shipyard. He died of that disease in September 1983.
On October 2, 1984, Anne Balbos, as surviving widow and personal representative of her husband's estate, and Paul Balbos, as the sole surviving adult child of Leslie Balbos, filed wrongful death and survival actions in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City against eighteen manufacturers, installers, and suppliers of asbestos-containing products including among the named defendants Celotex Corporation, Eagle-Picher Industries, Inc., and Porter Hayden Company. The plaintiffs alleged defendants' negligence, breach of warranty, and strict liability. Anne Balbos died in March 1985, and the complaint was then amended. The amended complaint was brought by Paul Balbos, individually and as substitute personal representative for the estate of Leslie Balbos, and Robert Fox, as personal representative for the estate of Anne Balbos.
Decedent Sutton Knuckles was employed as an "erector" at the Key Highway Shipyard owned and operated by Bethlehem Steel from 1941 to 1982. As an erector, Mr. Knuckles worked primarily with heavy pieces of steel used in the repair of ships. The Key Highway Shipyard was a major ship repair facility that serviced ships from all over the world. Mr. Knuckles was diagnosed in August 1984 as having malignant mesothelioma caused by occupational exposure to asbestos during his employment at the shipyard. He died of that disease in November 1984.
Sutton Knuckles filed a complaint in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, which was amended upon his death to designate Lucille Killian, Mr. Knuckles's sister, as the personal representative for his estate. The amended complaint named a total of 28 defendants, including ACandS, Inc.; Celotex Corporation; Eagle-Picher Industries, Inc.; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; Pittsburgh Corning Corporation; and Porter Hayden Company. The amended complaint contained eight counts, including claims based on negligence, breach of warranty, and strict liability.
The Balbos case and the Knuckles case were consolidated for trial. In summary, both cases involved claims for damages arising out of asbestos-related cancer deaths from mesothelioma caused by occupational exposure to asbestos and alleged negligence, breach of warranty, and strict liability.
A jury trial involving 14 defendants was conducted in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City before Judge David Ross. The jury returned verdicts in favor of the plaintiffs on the negligence claims and in favor of all the defendants on the product defect claims. In the Knuckles case, the jury assessed punitive damages against Eagle-Picher and Owens-Illinois, Inc. The court denied the defendants' post-trial motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, in the alternative, for a new trial.
All of the defendants mentioned above appealed. Collectively, they raise a total of twenty issues as set out below.
1. The trial court erred in excluding the testimony of Professor Howard Ayer.
2. The trial court erred in failing to order a new trial because the jury's verdicts were inconsistent as a matter of law.
3. The trial court erred in failing to direct judgment for Porter Hayden Company in that there was insufficient evidence that decedent Knuckles was exposed to any product for which this appellant was legally responsible.
4. Plaintiffs failed to present legally sufficient evidence to establish that they inhaled sufficient respirable asbestos from Eagle-Picher products to render such products a substantial factor in causing them harm.
5. The trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury in respect to the definition of
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