Special Electric Asks Calif. Supreme Court to Expand Asbestos Duty to Warn Scope to Sophisticated Purchasers

SAN FRANCISCO –– In its opening brief in the California Supreme Court, asbestos defendant Special Electric has asked the high court to reverse an intermediate appellate ruling that reinstated a $5 million verdict, arguing that the sophisticated user rule should include sophisticated purchasers and intermediaries.

In a brief filed Sept. 10 in California’s highest court, the defendant says that it never had possession of any asbestos and was merely a broker of asbestos fiber from Central Asbestos Company in South Africa to Johns-Manville.

William and Jacqueline Webb filed the lawsuit, seeking damages for William’s mesothelioma. The plaintiffs alleged …