Chicago Federal Court Remands Asbestos Case, Cites Lack of Removal Supporting Documentation

CHICAGO –– An Illinois federal court has remanded an asbestos action, finding that Crane Co. had not sufficiently provided supporting documentation to support its removal on government contractor grounds.

In the May 19 opinion, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois noted that the defendant had failed to “produce any contracts under which it supplied valves or anything else to the Navy.”

In the multi-exposure suit, the plaintiffs contend that Tracy Early Horrie Jr.’s service in the U.S. Navy as a machinist mate, his civilian work in Illinois, and his secondary exposure through his father’s asbestos-laden work …