Recent Union Carbide Verdict Applies to Company's Employees, Judge Rules

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A trial scheduled to determine whether Union Carbide would be liable for exposing its own workers to asbestos has been cancelled by a West Virginia judge who said a recent verdict on behalf of others exposed at company sites can apply to the case. Adkins v. Dow Chemical Corp., No. 02-C-9004 W.Va. Cir. Ct., Kanawha Cty.

Barbour and Taylor County Circuit Court Judge Alan Moats, who also sits on West Virginia's Mass Litigation Panel, said Nov. 26 that he would grant a motion for collateral estoppel filed by plaintiffs in the state's ongoing mass asbestos trial, which …