Asbestos MDL Court Dismisses Strict Products Liability Claims, Maintains that ‘Ship is not a Product’

PHILADELPHIA –– The court overseeing the national Asbestos Products Liability Multidistrict Litigation docket has granted a shipbuilder’s motion for summary judgment on strict products liability claims, but denied similar efforts by the defendant to dismiss the plaintiffs’ negligence-based claims.

In the May 7 decision, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania reiterated that a ship is not a product for purposes of applying strict products liability law.

The claims were asserted on behalf of Lejon Green, who was allegedly exposed to asbestos while serving aboard several ships in the U.S. Navy. The plaintiffs named Huntington Ingalls …