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Products Liability Keyed to Fischer, 6th Ed.
Rutherford v. Owens-Illinois Inc.
Citation:
16 Cal.4th 953, 941 P.2d 1203, 67 Cal.Rptr.2d 16 (1997)Facts
Charles Rutherford worked at Mare Island Naval Shipyard for 40 years, beginning in 1940. For several years, he worked in the sheet metal shop and was exposed to asbestos dust on a daily basis. Witnesses testified that when working below decks on ships, the asbestos dust looked like a “Texas dust storm.” In 1986, Rutherford was diagnosed with lung cancer, and he died in April 1988. Before his death, he filed a personal injury lawsuit against 19 asbestos manufacturers, including Owens-Illinois, which manufactured Kaylo insulation from 1948 to 1958. After his death, his wife and daughter amended the complaint to a wrongful death action. The case was bifurcated into damages and liability phases. Medical experts testified that asbestos-related lung cancers are dose-related diseases, with all occupational exposures contributing to the risk. Rutherford had also smoked approximately a pack of cigarettes daily for over 30 years until quitting in 1977. By the liability phase, all defendants except Owens-Illinois had settled. The trial court gave a burden-shifting instruction that required Owens-Illinois to prove its product was not a legal cause of Rutherford’s injury after plaintiffs established certain predicate facts.
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