Plaintiff Awarded Summary Judgment on Foster Wheeler’s Defenses in Asbestos Exposure Case

BALTIMORE — A Maryland federal judge has awarded the plaintiffs summary judgment on Foster Wheeler LLC’s sophisticated user and superseding cause defenses, ruling that it was not reasonable for the defendant to rely upon the decedent’s employer to warn him of the risks of asbestos exposure.

In an April 29 order, Judge Catherine C. Blake of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland further ruled that the employer’s failure to warn the decedent does not constitute a “superseding cause” because it was neither extraordinary nor otherwise unforeseeable.

The plaintiffs asserted the claims against several defendants, including Foster Wheeler, …