La. Court Grants Motion in Part to Dismiss Jones Act Claims in Asbestos-Containing Drilling Mud Suit

BATON ROUGE, La. –– A Louisiana federal court has dismissed a number of claims in an asbestos suit, agreeing with the defendants that the plaintiffs could not bring claims against companies that did not employ them.

In the July 14 opinion, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana also restricted the plaintiffs’ punitive damage claims.

Nobile Drilling Corp., ENSCO, Murphy Exploration & Product Co., and Murphy Exploration & Product Company-USA filed motions to dismiss claims asserted by plaintiffs with no work history.

The underlying claims were asserted by 11 plaintiffs who contended that they were exposed to …