Eleventh Circuit Upholds Verdict in “Take-Home” Asbestos Case

Last week, the Eleventh Circuit considered a “take-home” asbestos case.  Following a worker’s death from asbestos-induced lung cancer, the worker’s spouse was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma.  Prior to her death, she filed suit against her husband’s employer alleging that washing her husband’s clothes for 20-plus years had exposed her to asbestos.  Following a three-day bench trial, the district court entered judgment against her husband’s employer for more than $3 million.

As Chief Judge Ed Carnes framed the issue in the Eleventh Circuit opinion, “The question that lies at the bottom of this case is whether [her husband’s employer] caused [the spouse] to die sooner and suffer more in the course of dying than she otherwise would have.”

The employer’s two primary arguments on appeal were that 1) the district court should not have considered the husband’s state court deposition prior to his death because it was not a part of the record of the federal trial and 2) the court abused its discretion in relying on the offered expert testimony to support a finding that exposure to asbestos was the proximate cause of the spouse’s mesothelioma.  The Eleventh Circuit concluded that even if in error to consider the husband’s state court deposition, the error was harmless because the testimony was simply cumulative of other admitted evidence.  The court also found that the district court, especially in a bench trial where it could properly weigh evidence, did not abuse its discretion in admitting the expert report in question.

After considering and rejecting the employer’s arguments on appeal, Judge Carnes wrote, “To answer the question with which we began, [the employer] did cause [the spouse] to die sooner and suffer more in the course of dying than she otherwise would have.”

The case is No. 15-15271 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.