Court Rejects Attempts to Hold Employer Liable in Secondhand Case

WILMINGTON, Del. -- The Delaware Supreme Court has weighed in on a secondhand, household exposure dispute, rejecting the notion that there is a legal relationship between an employer and an employee's spouse. Riedel v. ICI Americas Inc., No. 156, 2008 (Del. Sup. Ct.).

In the Feb. 4 decision, the high court upheld summary judgment for an asbestos defendant and a finding that imposing a duty of care to the spouses of the defendant's employees would result in liability that "would be practically limitless." For more information on the trial court's decision, see "Household Exposure Duty Rejected, Court Says Liability Would …