Avondale Not Entitled to Government Contractor Immunity, La. Federal Judge Rules

NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge has ruled that Huntington Ingalls Inc. (Avondale) is not entitled to government contractor immunity in secondhand asbestos exposure case because the federal government was not involved in the company’s decision of whether to issue asbestos-related warnings.

In a July 22 order, Judge Darrel J. Papillion of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana adopted rulings in similar cases that while the government may have been closely involved with overseeing the construction of asbestos-containing vessels at the Avondale Shipyard, there is no evidence it was involved with the issuance of warnings …