Md. Judge Says GE Removal of Shipyard Welder's Lung Cancer Case Was Timely

BALTIMORE - A defendant that claimed it first learned through interrogatories that the plaintiff was exposed to asbestos while reconditioning U.S. Navy vessels did not wait too long to remove the case to federal court, a District Court judge has ruled. Harper v. Alltite Gaskets, et al., No. 12-460 (D. Md.).

Judge William D. Quarles Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland said April 30 that despite allegations in the plaintiff's complaint that he had worked as a welder at a Bethlehem Steel-owned shipyard, it was not apparent that his alleged exposures occurred on Naval vessels …