Products Liability Law Reporter

Curtis Bolton was a pipe welder and maintenance worker for various companies during the 1970s, including Daniel Construction, at the Hoechst Celanese Fiber Plant in Spartanburg, S.C. Throughout his career, Bolton’s duties included installing, repairing, and rebuilding valves, pumps, and other equipment; removing and replacing gaskets and packing on pipe flanges; and removing and welding pipes. He also worked around other tradesmen who were repairing and applying insulation products to pipes, boilers, and turbines, and these products allegedly contained asbestos materials supplied by various companies, including John Crane.

Bolton subsequently developed mesothelioma. Despite medical treatment, including surgery, he died of his disease. Bolton, 73, is survived by his wife.

Bolton’s wife sued John Crane, Inc., among others, alleging negligence.

The jury awarded approximately $1.75 million, including over $608,700 for loss of consortium.

Citation: Bolton v. John Crane, Inc., No. 2021-CP-02480 (S.C. Ct. Com. Pl. Spartanburg Cnty. Mar. 25, 2024).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ members Holly Peterson and Frank Wathen, both of Dallas; and AAJ member Theile McVey, Columbia, S.C.

Comment: In Pelton v. John Crane, Inc., 2024 WL 361425 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 31, 2024), Chloyde and Shirley Pelton sued John Crane, Inc., alleging claims for negligence and strict liability, as well as willful and wanton conduct. The plaintiffs asserted that Chloyde was exposed to the defendant’s asbestos-containing products—including gaskets and packing—while he served in the U.S. Navy as a pipefitter and that this led to his malignant mesothelioma. The defense moved for summary judgment. The court granted in part and denied in part, allowing the strict liability and negligence claims to proceed. AAJ member Demetrious Zacharopoulos, Baltimore; AAJ member Troyce Wolf, Dallas; and AAJ members Ethan Flint and Lawrence Holcomb, both of Edwardsville, Ill., represented the plaintiffs.

See also Marsh v. Chas Kurz & Co., 2024 WL 982283 (5th Cir. Mar. 7, 2024). There, retired merchant mariner Harry Marsh sued approximately 60 various vessel owners, alleging that he had been exposed to asbestos on the defendants’ vessels and that this led to his mesothelioma. The defendants Chas Kurz & Co.; Chiquita Brands, International, Inc.; National Bulk Carriers, Inc.; and Farrell Lines moved for summary judgment and to exclude the reports of the plaintiff’s experts, which stated that asbestos exposure on the defendants’ vessels contributed to Marsh’s disease. The defendants argued that no evidence showed Marsh had been exposed to asbestos aboard their vessels and that the expert conclusions were therefore unsupported. The trial court granted the motions, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed. The court found that the plaintiff had failed to make a threshold showing of asbestos exposure aboard the defendants’ vessels and that the only evidence of exposure were various government documents suggesting the general presence of asbestos aboard vessels at the time. Thus, the court concluded that given the absence of evidence specific to the defendants’ vessels, no fair-minded reasonable jury could conclude Marsh had been exposed to asbestos aboard the defendants’ vessels.