Ohio Court Reinstates Workers’ Comp Asbestos Claim Against Heinz, Cites Wrongfully Excluded Evidence

TOLEDO, Ohio –– An Ohio appellate court has reversed the dismissal of an asbestos workers’ compensation action, ruling that the plaintiff should have been permitted to use the deposition of her deceased husband from a prior civil action, even though his former employer, H.J. Heinz Co. (NYSE:HNZ), was not a party in the proceedings.

In the March 1 opinion, the Ohio 6th District Court of Appeals also found that the exclusion of several other exhibits, including affidavits and letters from the decedents treating physician, was also erroneous.

The claims were brought on behalf of Donald Burkhart, who worked at …