Louisiana Court Retains Jurisdiction Over Asbestos Claims, Says Plaintiff Can’t Recovery Against In-State Executive Officer Defendants

BATON ROUGE, La. –– A Louisiana federal court has retained jurisdiction over an asbestos case, finding that a magistrate judge did not err when he concluded that the plaintiff had no chance of recovery against in-state executive officers.

In the July 16 opinion, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana said that without those claims, complete diversity between the plaintiff and the defendant existed, making remand to state court improper.

Plaintiff Paul Sarradet filed the lawsuit, contending that he was exposed to asbestos-containing products while working at a Dow Chemical plant. As a result of the exposure, …