Packaging at Issue in Mesothelioma Lawsuit
When malignant mesothelioma claimed Wilburn Freeman’s life, his family filed a personal injury claim against Georgia Pacific, blaming asbestos in the company’s pre-mixed joint compound for his illness and death. When the company asked the court to dismiss the case, the issues that needed to be addressed included the packaging that the product was sold in. Following arguments from both sides, the judge hearing the case sided with the victim’s family and allowed the case to proceed.
Asbestos in Pre-Mixed Joint Compound Blamed for Mesothelioma Death
Georgia Pacific asked for the mesothelioma case to be dismissed by the Delaware judge hearing the case. They argued that the product named in the family’s claim was not on the market during the years specified in the lawsuit, and since Mr. Freeman died before giving deposition testimony, it was impossible to establish the facts in the case.
But the mesothelioma victim’s son recalled specifics of having worked with the product while helping his father on renovation and construction products in the 1960s and 1970s and testified about the white tubs that he recalled the product being packaged in. In response, Georgia Pacific argued that they had not begun use of those pails until years later.
Judge Rejects Company’s Request to Dismiss Mesothelioma Claim
Though Georgia Pacific sufficiently established that the buckets had not been in use during the years cited by the mesothelioma victim’s son, the judge allowed the case to move forward. He noted that the victim’s son had “clearly and repeatedly identified the joint compound his father used.” He also said that the issue of the packaging was not relevant, recognizing that the image of the containers that the son carried from childhood could have been impacted by years of marketing by the company or association to more recent packaging. The case will move forward.
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