Court: Plaintiff Only Had to Show Some Evidence of Exposure

SAN FRANCISCO -- A California Court of Appeal has reversed an award of summary judgment to a contractor in an asbestos case, opining that with discovery still ongoing, the plaintiffs could still establish that the defendant's activities were a proximate cause of an asbestos-related injury. Beck, et al. v. Huber, Hunt & Nichols of California, No. A117979 (Calif. Ct. App., 1st Dist., Div. 1).

In the July 18 opinion, the First District Court of Appeal found that because the defendant was a contractor, not a manufacturer, the plaintiffs only had to establish that the defendant's behavior exposed the decedent to …