Wis. Court Rejects Challenges to Asbestos Plaintiff’s Status as Special Administrator of Estate

MADISON, Wis. –– An asbestos plaintiff’s lawsuit has been amended sua sponte by a Wisconsin federal court, which determined that the plaintiff “clearly” had standing to bring the claim.

In the June 2 order, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin rejected Weyerhaeuser Co.’s attempts to dismiss the case on grounds that the plaintiff had not been appointed as the special administrator of his mother’s estate when the complaint was filed.

According to the court, Sharon Heckel was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2012; she died seven months later.

Almost one year after her death, her …