Products Liability Law Reporter

Jodie Collins worked as a pipefitter at various oil refineries from the 1960s to 2011. Although he was exposed to asbestos-containing products, including insulation, gaskets, and packing, he wore no protection while he worked and was not warned that he should wear a mask. He was diagnosed as having stomach cancer in 2011, and, despite chemotherapy and radiation, he died of his disease at age 60. Collins, who incurred medical expenses of $550,000, is survived by his wife and two adult children.

Collins’s survivors sued several contractors and various manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors of the asbestos-containing products to which Collins had been exposed, including: Actuant Corporation; Airgas-Northern California & Nevada, Inc.; Armstrong World Industries, Inc.; Asbestos Corp. Limited; Babcock & Wilcox Co.; Babcock & Wilcox Company Sequencing Adjustment; Combustion Engineering, Inc.; Crane Co.; Fluor Corp.; Ford Motor Co.; Hennessy Industries, LLC; J.T. Thorpe, Inc.; Manville Trust; Mueller Co. LLC; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; Petrochem Insulation, Inc.; Pfizer, Inc.; Pittsburgh Corning Corp.; Pittsburgh Corning Corp. Sequencing Adjustment; Plant Insulation Co.; Quigley Co., Inc.; Scott Co. of California; Sequoia Venture Inc.; Temporary Plant Cleaners, Inc.; Tosco Corp.; Trimon, Inc., and Western MacArthur Co. The plaintiffs alleged strict liability, negligence, and failure to warn, and claimed lost income of $1.8 million.

The defendants disputed that asbestos exposure led to Collins’s stomach cancer.

The parties settled for $1.1 million.

Citation: Collins v. Roe Mfrs. & Suppliers, No. 13-276175 (Cal. Super. Ct. San Francisco Cnty. May 8, 2019).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ members James Nevin and Geoff Sloniker, both of Novato, Calif.

Plaintiff expert: Richard Cohen, epidemiology, Los Gatos, Calif.