Wash. Court Denies Defense Challenges to Asbestos Suit on Pleading, Jurisdiction Grounds

TACOMA, Wash. – A Washington federal court has denied defense challenges to an asbestos case on pleading sufficiency and personal jurisdiction grounds, concluding that, at this point in the proceedings, the plaintiffs had satisfied their burden.

In a March 28 order, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington specifically found that while further information may show that the defendants did not purposefully place their products into the stream of commerce in Washington, the pleadings presently are sufficient to support such a showing.

Defendant Taco Inc. filed a motion to dismiss while Aurora Pump Company filed a …