Court Denies General Dynamics Efforts to Dismiss Asbestos Case, Rejects Defendant’s ‘Ship is Not a Product’ Argument

SAN FRANCISCO –– A California court has ruled that strict liability asbestos claims asserted against General Dynamics may proceed based on allegations that the defendant was both a manufacturer of asbestos-containing products and a builder of the ships where the plaintiff’s exposures occurred.

In the April 3 opinion, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California noted that while the court overseeing the national asbestos coordinated docket has recently ruled that a ship is not a product for strict liability purposes, the defendants in those actions were solely named as shipbuilders and were not also accused of manufacturing …