Court Blocks Owens Corning Effort to Recover from Big Tobacco

JACKSON, Miss. - The Mississippi Supreme Court has affirmed a trial court decision awarding summary judgment to tobacco defendants on contribution claims filed by Owens Corning for money it has paid to sick smokers exposed to asbestos. Owens Corning v. R.J. Reynolds, et al., No. 2001-CA-01285-SCT (Miss. Sup. Ct.).

In a 5-1 decision issued March 18, the state's high court upheld the Jefferson County Circuit Court finding that Owens Corning's contribution claims against the tobacco companies were too remote to justify allowing the case to continue.

The decision arose from a single-plaintiff tobacco case filed in 1996 by Ezell Thomas, …