Asbestos Supplier's Warnings Insufficient to Support Bulk Supplier Argument

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A state appeals court has rejected a defendant's bulk supplier defense in affirming a $1.153 million verdict awarded to a former carpenter who developed mesothelioma as a result of his exposure to asbestos-containing joint compound. Union Carbide Corporation v. Kavanaugh, No. 4D03-2956 (Fla. Ct. App., Fourth Dist.).

In an opinion issued June 23, the Fourth District Florida Court of Appeal held that warnings supplied by defendant Union Carbide Corp. to companies that incorporated its asbestos into their products were insufficient to discharge Union Carbide's duty to warn the ultimate users of such products. Therefore, the …