Miss. Court Tosses Asbestos Claims Against Huntington on Preemption, Statute of Limitations Grounds

JACKSON, Miss. –– A Mississippi federal court has awarded summary judgment to Huntington Ingalls Inc., finding that a pro se complaint was both preempted by the LHWCA and barred by the three-year statute of limitations.

In the Sept. 11 order, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, found that the plaintiff had “failed to carry his burden of demonstrating that there exists a genuine dispute of material fact for resolution at trial.”

Plaintiff Johnny Kirkland filed the pro se complaint, contending that he was hired by Huntington Ingalls Inc. in the 1970s. Ingalls stated that Kirkland stopped …