Defendant Claims Prior Release is Applicable in Benzene Case

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Union Pacific has pointed to a 2003 release of liability signed by a plaintiff in support of a motion for summary judgment filed in a U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri benzene case. Lewis, et al. v. Radiator Specialty, et al., No. 06-00759 (E.D. Mo.).

In the May 22 reply, Union Pacific refutes the plaintiff's contention that he did not release Union Pacific from liability for claims arising from his current injury, which had not manifested at the time the release was signed.

Union Pacific claims that Michael Lewis previously signed a Federal …