Ill. Federal Court Denies John Crane’s Motion for Summary Judgment in Asbestos Case

CHICAGO –– A federal Illinois court has denied John Crane Inc.’s motion for summary judgment in an asbestos case, rejecting in part the defendant’s position that the plaintiffs had failed to establish specific causation.

In the Jan. 31 order, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois also ruled that punitive damages remain available to the plaintiffs “since the remedy has been historically available and no applicable law eliminates that availability.”

“Plaintiffs’ failure to specifically request punitive damages in their Complaint does not bar Plaintiffs from seeking this remedy at trial,” the court reasoned.

The underlying plaintiffs …