Mont. Federal Court Adopts Recommendation Awarding Summary Judgment to BNSF in Asbestos Case

MISSOULA, Mont. – A Montana federal court has adopted a report and recommendation awarding summary judgment to BNSF Railway Co., agreeing with a magistrate judge’s assessment that the claims are time-barred.

In the March 27 order, the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana rejected the plaintiffs’ stance that by the time BNSF was made part of an automatic bankruptcy stay, the statute of limitations had already run.

The plaintiffs contended that BNSF negligently transported asbestos in uncovered railroad cars from the W.R. Grace asbestos mining operation in Lincoln County, Mont. The plaintiffs all lived near railroad tracks used …