Court Rules that When Testimony Conflicts, Mesothelioma Victim’s Words Prevail
When a mesothelioma victim files a lawsuit seeking compensation, there is no question about their diagnosis or the eventual outcome. But beyond the fact of their illness, there are plenty of conflicting opinions and assertions on how they were exposed and who is at fault. In a recent case, a New York judge made clear that when this tension exists and a defendant has asked for the case to be dismissed, the courts are required to give credence to the victim and allow the case to move forward.
Mesothelioma Victim Recalls Working on Specific Boilers
In an asbestos lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court of New York County, Anthony W. Morale accused Fulton Biler Works of having negligently exposed him to asbestos during his long career as a heating technician. Though Mr. Morale died of his illness, he provided extensive testimony before his death, filled with significant detail about the products he worked with and the type of work he did over 40 years of work.
Despite the specificity of Mr. Morale’s deposition testimony, Fulton Boiler Works argued that the mesothelioma case against them should be dismissed. Their justification rested on testimony from their own corporate representative, who claimed that they could not have been responsible for his death because their boilers didn’t require the type of service and assembly he had described and had not been sold for use in the applications and environments he’d described.
Judge Denies Company’s Request to Dismiss Mesothelioma Claim
Though the boiler company had hoped that their representative’s testimony would prevail, Justice Adam Silvera noted that Mr. Morale’s testimony had been unequivocal despite the exceptional circumstance of him suffering the effects of his mesothelioma and having been weeks away from death. In weighing testimony from both sides, the judge said that the case came down to a “battle of the experts” and that a jury would have to decide which side to believe. The asbestos company’s request for the case to be dismissed was denied and the case will proceed.
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