(The Associated Press circulated the following story by Harry R. Weber on January 25.)
ATLANTA — The state Supreme Court has dealt a setback to four plaintiffs suing CSX Transportation Inc. in a case involving people who said they suffered asbestos-related illnesses from breathing fumes from the work clothes of employees of the railroad.
In a unanimous decision issued Monday, the court ruled that Georgia’s negligence law does not impose any duty on an employer to a third-party who is not an employee of that company who comes into contact with an employee’s asbestos-tainted work clothing away from the workplace.
The decision sends the case back for further consideration by the U.S. District Court, where the lawsuits were filed, said Supreme Court spokesman Richard Diguette.
“We’re obviously very happy about the decision,” CSX lawyer Mary H. Moses said. “What it does is put Georgia in line with most of the other states that have dealt with this issue.”
Plaintiffs lawyer Roger B. Lane did not immediately return phone messages left at his law office in Brunswick or at the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta, where he serves as a member of the state House of Representatives.
Three of the four plaintiffs brought suit under Georgia’s negligence law based on their claim that each was exposed at home as a child to airborne asbestos emitting from the clothing his father wore while working at the railroad, and that this exposure contributed to their asbestos-related disease. They also made a separate claim under a different law based on their exposure while working for the railroad themselves.
The fourth plaintiff brought a wrongful death action under the Georgia negligence law based on his late wife’s exposure at home to asbestos on clothes he wore to work at the railroad. The plaintiffs sued for unspecified damages.
CSX Transportation filed a request for summary judgment in each case, arguing that the “clothing exposure” claims are not covered under the law in question. The federal court denied the motion. A federal appeals court then asked Georgia’s Supreme Court to address the question of whether the state’s negligence law covers the claims in the suits.
Moses said Monday’s decision likely means that the wrongful death lawsuit and the claims under the Georgia negligence law in the other three cases will be dismissed.
However, she said the other three cases also involve a separate claim under the Federal Employers Liability Act. Moses said the claims based on that law are not affected by Monday’s decision.