The Washington State Supreme Court has ruled that makers of nonhazardous component parts, such as pipes or valves, have no duty to warn ultimate users about asbestos products made by others and attached to the components post-sale.
The decision denies plaintiff attorneys a new line of attack in an effort to collect on behalf of those exposed to asbestos in the workplace, said a lawyer who submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in two cases on behalf of insurance trade groups.
“It is easy to see what is suddenly driving this novel theory,” said Mark Behrens, a partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P., Washington, D.C. “Most major manufacturers of asbestos-containing products have filed for bankruptcy, and the Navy”–which allegedly applied the asbestos–”enjoys sovereign immunity.”
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