N.Y. Court Denies Motions for Summary Judgment, Says Bare Metal Defense Doesn’t Bar Asbestos Claims

ALBANY, N.Y. –– A New York federal court has denied motions for summary judgment in an asbestos case, in part rejecting the defendants’ position that the bare metal and government contractor defenses barred the claims.

In the March 21 opinion, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York wrote that a “duty may attach where the defendant manufactured a product that, by necessity, contained asbestos components, where the asbestos-containing material was essential to the proper functioning of the defendant’s product, and where the asbestos-containing material would necessarily be replaced by other asbestos-containing material, whether supplied by the …