EAGLE-PICHER INDUSTRIES, INC. et al. v. Paul BALBOS, Personal Representative of the Estate of Leslie Balbos et al., 326 Md. 179

Summary

The court affirmed the liability of one manufacturer and rejected its claim that it had no duty to warn where one decedent's exposure to asbestos occurred between 1942 and 1944 and little was known about asbestos prior to 1944. The court also rejected the manufacturer's claims that the failure to warn by decedents' employer and decedent's failure to heed warnings were superseding causes. Also, even though there was no evidence that the installer knew of the danger of asbestos prior to 1944, the court affirmed the finding that the installer, as a dealer in asbestos products, could have discovered such information. There was sufficient evidence for a jury to find that one decedent was frequently exposed to fibers as a bystander. The court reversed the finding that the installer's asbestos products were a substantial factor in the death of one of the decedents. The court rejected the estate's fiber drift theory and found that the jury could not reasonably infer that the asbestos products ...