Ohio Defendants Move for Summary Judgment Citing Sophistication of Employer

CLEVELAND - Several defendants have moved for summary judgment in the first group of silica cases scheduled to go to trial in Ohio, arguing that they had no duty to warn of dangers associated with exposure to silica dust because the plaintiffs' employer was a sophisticated user of the product. Woodard, et al. v. American Optical Corp., et al., No. 469127 (Ohio Comm. Pls., Cuyahoga Cty.).

In a motion filed April 14 in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, the defendants contend that Buckeye Steel Casting Company had for the better part of the last century understood, and made efforts …