Court Remands Asbestos Action; Rejects Argument that Plaintiff Needed to ID Vessel to Assert Jones Act Claims

MONROE, La. –– A Louisiana federal court has remanded an asbestos lawsuit alleging exposure in oil fields and on offshore oil rigs, rejecting the removing defendant’s argument that the plaintiff had to identify the vessel on which he worked in order to sustain his Jones Act claims.

In the Nov. 18 order, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana said that there was insufficient evidence to support the defendant’s contention that the plaintiff filed the Jones Act claim in an attempt to evade removal.

Plaintiff Donald McMillin filed the claims, contending that his exposure to asbestos …