NYC Asbestos Judge Denies Defense Efforts to ‘Indefinitely’ Stay Punitive Damages Decision

NEW YORK – The New York trial judge overseeing the city’s coordinated asbestos docket has denied defense efforts to indefinitely stay its decision reinstating punitive damages, saying doing so would effectively revoke the court’s prior order.

In the Dec. 15 order, Judge Sherry Klein Heitler of the New York Supreme Court for New York County opined that in light of the fact that the state’s public policy permits punitive damages, it would be inappropriate to impose an “open ended stay” on the ruling.

Justice Heitler issued the contested order in April 2014, opining that the section of the docket’s case …