N.Y. Appellate Court Denies Motion to Stay CMO Order; Plaintiffs Have Right to Pursue Punitive Damages

NEW YORK –– A New York appellate court has rejected defense efforts to stay the implementation of a Case Management Order that allows plaintiffs to seek punitive damages in the city’s coordinated asbestos docket.

In a Sept. 19 one-page order, the New York Appellate Division of the Supreme Court for the First Judicial Department denied the defendants’ motion for a stay of the CMO pending hearing and determination of an appeal relating to the order.

Sources told HarrisMartin that the Appellate Division’s denial of the motion to stay effectively allows plaintiffs to seek punitive damages in asbestos cases. The …