Mo. Court Denies Harley-Davidson’s Efforts to Throw out Benzene Claims of Former Employee

KANSAS CITY, Mo. –– A Missouri federal court has denied Harley-Davidson’s (NYSE:HOG) attempts to dismiss a benzene case on collateral estoppel grounds, ruling that recent decisions from the state’s appellate courts had changed workers’ compensation law with regards to occupational diseases.

In the Oct. 15 decision, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri said that when it awarded summary judgment to the defendants several years ago on exclusivity grounds, it had wrongfully predicted how the state would interpret the recently amended law.

Michelle Ideker filed the lawsuit, contending that she was exposed to benzene-containing products while …