Sources: Court Says Asbestos Settlement Bars Silica Claims Against 3M

GALVESTON, Texas - A state trial court has awarded summary judgment to a silica defendant after it argued that a plaintiff's claims against the company were barred by a settlement release he had previously signed in an asbestos case. Browning v. Air Liquide American Corp., et al., No. 02CV1405 (Texas Dist. Ct., Galveston Cty.).

Sources close to the case told HarrisMartin Publishing that the Galveston County District Court granted the motion last month, dismissing defendant 3M Company from the suit after the defendant argued that plaintiff Harvey Browning had already accepted a $500 settlement from the company in exchange for …