MDL Judge Says MetLife Owes 'No Duty to the Public,' Dismisses Defendant

CLEVELAND -- The judge overseeing the Welding Fume Products Liability Litigation MDL has dismissed MetLife from all pending actions, opining that the plaintiffs could not prove that the insurance company's actions proximately caused their alleged injuries. In re: Welding Fume Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1535 (N.D. Ohio).

In the April 9 order, Judge Kathleen M. O'Malley of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio further found that there was no evidence indicating that MetLife participated with any other defendant to conceal the dangers of welding fumes, as the plaintiffs had alleged.

Judge O'Malley noted that …