Pretrial Dismissals Narrow Causes of Action Against Some Defendants in Silica Case

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Recent orders filed in a Mississippi silica injury case have removed design defect and other claims against two defendants as the parties move toward a scheduled March trial date.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi has scheduled a settlement conference for Jan. 29 and ordered that “counsel, the parties and representatives with settlement authority must be present.”

Plaintiff Talmadge V. Langston alleges that exposure to respirable silica while he worked as a sandblaster at cemetery monument companies from 1971 to 1983 led to his development of silicosis.

Among the 21 defendants are …