Mich. High Court Says Premises Owner Not Liable for Secondhand Exposure

LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled that a premises owner did not owe a legal duty to protect a woman from secondhand asbestos exposure, stating that any relationship between the parties was "highly tenuous" and the harm was, in all likelihood, not foreseeable. Miller, et al. v. Ford Motor Co., No. 131517 (Mich. Sup. Ct.).

The high court, in a 4-3 decision, also said in its July 25 opinion that the imposition of a duty of care on premises owners, under these circumstances, would be onerous and unworkable because it would "expand traditional tort concepts beyond manageable …