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Owens-Illinois6/1/2005
In the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Harry Hunter and his wife Barbara Hunter sued Owens-Illinois, Inc., alleging that the company was responsible for Mr. Hunter's development of mesothelioma after he was exposed to asbestos almost fifty years earlier. Mr. Hunter died two months after his complaint was filed. After the jury awarded the plaintiffs a multi-million dollar verdict, the trial court granted Owens-Illinois's motions for remittitur and to apply Maryland's statutory cap on non-economic damages to the wrongful death damages award.
Owens-Illinois noted this appeal and presents three questions for our review, which we have rephrased:
I. Did the circuit court err in concluding that the Hunters produced sufficient evidence to prove Mr. Hunter's exposure to Owens-Illinois's asbestos product?
II. Did the circuit court err in concluding that, because the Hunters' loss of consortium claim arose before the enactment of Maryland's non-economic damages cap, the cap did not apply to their loss of consortium claim?
III. Did the circuit court err in concluding that the Hunters' loss of consortium claim was not barred as a matter of law because Mr. Hunter had been exposed to asbestos before the Hunters married?
Ms. Hunter noted a cross-appeal, and presents the following two questions, which we also rephrase:
IV. Did the circuit court err in granting Owens-Illinois's motion for remittitur of the loss of consortium damages?
V. Did the circuit court err in applying the non-economic damages cap to the wrongful death count?
We conclude that the circuit court did not err in any of these respects. Therefore, we shall affirm the judgment.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
This case began almost fifty years ago at the United States Coast Guard's shipyard (the Yard) located at Curtis Bay, in south Baltimore, Maryland. From July 23 to September 10, 1956, between his junior and senior years of college, Mr. Hunter worked as an electrician's helper at the Yard for a total of thirty-three days. Before his death, Mr. Hunter testified by videotape that military ships were refurbished at the Yard when he worked there. The plaintiffs alleged that, while working at the Yard, Mr. Hunter was exposed to asbestos dust from Kaylo, a pipe-covering product manufactured by Owens-Illinois. Shortly after his work at the Yard, the Hunters married in 1960. His mesothelioma was not diagnosed until 2001, the year he died.
At trial, only one witness testified that Mr. Hunter was exposed to asbestos at the Yard. William Edwards worked at the Yard as one of the electricians to whom helpers were assigned. Based on a photograph provided by the Hunters' counsel, Edwards testified that he recognized Mr. Hunter by face, but not by name. Edwards also testified that, although Mr. Hunter never worked as his helper, he remembered seeing Mr. Hunter working at the Yard in the 1950s.
Edwards was 79 years old when he testified. He had trouble remembering the exact name of Owens-Illinois's product, but he testified that he saw the name on boxes of the product. He called the pipe-covering "Kayo," but its proper name was Kaylo. Regarding Mr. Hunter's exposure to asbestos dust from Kaylo, Edwards testified:
[Plaintiffs' counsel]: hen this pipe covering was cut, what, if anything, did you see in the air?
[Edwards]: Oh, a lot of - a lot of stuff flying around.
[Plaintiffs' counsel]: And how long a period of time was the gentleman in the - do you recall the gentleman in the picture being at the Coast Guard Yard in the mid `50s?
[Edwards]: Well, I don't thin
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