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Adams v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp.9/23/2005
BEFORE: PARRO, KUHN, AND WELCH, JJ.
The plaintiffs appeal a judgment granting summary judgment in favor of C. V. Harold Rubber Co., Inc. (CVH) and dismissing their claims against it. We reverse and remand.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
In this asbestos exposure suit, several hundred plaintiffs claim damages for illnesses and disabilities suffered as a result of work-related exposure to asbestos at various industrial and commercial facilities in Louisiana. The plaintiffs allege that the multiple defendants named in the suit manufactured, distributed, applied, or removed asbestos materials, and that as a result of the defendants' negligence, strict liability, fraudulent concealment of information, conspiracy, alteration of medical studies, failure to warn of health hazards, and other fault, the plaintiffs were exposed to and inhaled quantities of asbestos fibers, causing their illnesses.
CVH was named in plaintiffs' sixteenth supplemental and amending petition as an asbestos manufacturer/supplier defendant, against whom claims of strict liability and negligence were alleged. CVH filed a motion for summary judgment, claiming it could not be strictly liable because it did not manufacture any asbestos-containing products, but was a non-manufacturer seller of various rubber products, such as hoses, and of some asbestos-containing gaskets manufactured by other companies, which it did not hold out or label as CVH products. CVH further stated it was not an exclusive distributor and never had the type of relationship with an asbestos manufacturer that would qualify it as a "professional vendor" for imposition of strict liability. Regarding the negligence cause of action, CVH stated there was no evidence that it knew or should have known that the asbestos gaskets it sold were defective or hazardous to health. Finally, CVH contended it could not be liable, because there was no evidence it ever sold such products to sites where the plaintiffs might have been exposed to asbestos, and therefore the plaintiffs could not establish that exposure to asbestos in those products ever occurred or was a substantial factor in causing their illnesses.
The motion was supported by an affidavit from James J. Reilly, the president of CVH, who stated the only asbestos-containing products ever sold by CVH were rubber-encapsulated asbestos gaskets manufactured by other companies. He further attested that CVH never altered nor materially modified these products in any way; did not put its name, logo, or other CVH identification on the asbestos gaskets; and did not market or represent these products as its own. In addition, Reilly said CVH was never the alter ego of any gasket manufacturer and exercised no control over the manufacture, distribution, or marketing of any asbestos-containing gasket. Finally, Reilly stated that during the relevant time period involved in this litigation, CVH had no knowledge of any potential hazards associated with the use of asbestos-containing gaskets and had no warnings from their manufacturers concerning such hazards.
The plaintiffs opposed the motion and supported their opposition with a copy of Reilly's deposition and attachments, including the plaintiffs' responses to interrogatories propounded by CVH; a number of CVH invoices for sales of asbestos-containing gaskets, hoses, and other products; information printed from the CVH web site describing the company's business as a fabricator and distributor of industrial products; and a copy of minutes from a 1956 meeting of The Asbestos Textile Institute Air Hygiene Committee showing the asbestosis-cancer link was discussed. The plaintiffs also submitted an affidavit from a man who delive
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