Lung Cancer Victim’s Family Prevails Against Airplane Parts Manufacturer
Malignant mesothelioma and asbestos-related lung cancer have claimed countless lives in the United States, with most victims’ deaths blamed on occupational exposure to asbestos. Following the 2021 death of their family member, Gustave Sahm’s survivors filed suit against the companies they blamed for his illness and death, including the manufacturer of parts for the airplanes he flew. Though the company attempted to have the case dismissed, a judge denied their request and the family’s quest for justice can proceed.
Asbestos Lung Cancer Victim Was a Navy Veteran
Like many others diagnosed with mesothelioma or lung cancer, Gustave Sahm was a Navy veteran, but the case against Morton International was not based on his service-based exposure. Instead, the family pointed to parts that the company had provided to the St. Louis County Police Department. Years before being diagnosed with asbestos-related lung cancer, Mr. Sahm had been a helicopter pilot and detective for the St. Louis County Police Department, and it is exposure to asbestos-related parts manufactured by the company that formed the basis for the family’s negligence claim against the company.
Though there were several other companies named in the suit that successfully requested dismissal from the family’s claim, Judge Audrey G. Fleissig of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri reviewed precedent from previously filed mesothelioma and asbestos lung cancer claims and determined that the claims against Morton International successfully raised issues of both strict product liability and negligent manufacture.
Family Points to Asbestos Company’s Sale of Parts to Police Department in St. Louis
Many of the companies that were named in the family’s original suit successfully followed the same pattern that has been used in mesothelioma and asbestos-related diseases in the past: they argued that the court where the claim was filed had no jurisdiction over them. But in the case involving Morton International, that argument failed due to evidence that the company had directly sold the asbestos-containing products to which Mr. Sahm was exposed to the man’s employer.
By providing proof that the asbestos lung cancer victim had been directly exposed to Morton International’s asbestos-contaminated parts and that the company had provided no warning that their products could lead to mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases, the family defeated arguments against jurisdiction or statement of a case, and their journey for justice can proceed.
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