Asbestos MDL Court Awards Summary Judgment to Shipowner Defendant, Finds No Evidence of Exposure

PHILADELPHIA –– The court overseeing the national Asbestos Products Liability Multidistrict Litigation docket has awarded summary judgment to a shipowner defendant, finding that the plaintiffs had failed to provide vessel-specific evidence proving that the decedent was exposed to asbestos on the company’s ship.

In the Sept. 3 opinion, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania rejected the plaintiff’s efforts to show that asbestos was present on the ship by proffering evidence that “all vessels” during that time period had asbestos insulating materials on board.

Plaintiff Willard Bartel asserted the claims on behalf of George E. Murray, …