FILE THIS OPINION WAS FILED FOR RECORD AT 8 A.M. ON IN CLERK'S OFFICE JULY 8, 2021 SUPREME COURT, STATE OF WASHINGTON JULY 8, 2021 ERIN L. LENNON SUPREME COURT CLERK
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
GERRI S. COOGAN, the spouse of JERRY D. COOGAN, deceased, and JAMES P. NO. 98296-1 SPURGETIS, solely in his capacity as the Personal Representative of the Estate of JERRY D. COOGAN, Deceased,
Petitioners,
vs. Filed: July 8, 2021 BORG-WARNER MORSE TEC INC., (sued individually and as successor-in-interest to BORG-WARNER CORPORATION); CATERPILLAR GLOBAL MINING, LLC (sued individually and as a successor-in- interest to BUCYRUS INTERNATIONAL f/k/a BUCYRUS-ERIE CO.); CERTAINTEED CORPORATION; DANA COMPANIES LLC (sued individually and as successor-in-interest to VICTOR GASKET MANUFACTURING COMPANY); DEERE & COMPANY (d/b/a JOHN DEERE: FMC CORPORATION (d/b/a LINK-BELT Cranes and Heavy Construction Equipment); FORMOSA PLASTICS CORPORATION U.S.A (sued individually and as parent, alter ego and successor-in-interest to J-M MANUFACTURING COMPANY and to J-M A/C PIPE CORPORATION); HOLLINGSWORTH & VOSE COMPANY; HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL, INC. f/k/a ALLIED-SIGNAL, INC. (sued individually and as successor-in-interest to BENDIX CORPORATION); J-M Coogan v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec Inc., et al., No. 98296-1
MANUFACTURING COMPANY, INC. (sued individually and as parent and alter ego to J-M A/C PIPE CORPORATION); KAISER GYPSUM COMPANY, INC.; LINK-BELT CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT COMPANY, L.P., LLLP; NORTHWEST DRYER & MACHINERY CO.; OFFICEMAX, INCORPORATED (f/k/a BOISE CASCADE CORPORATION); PARKER-HANNIFIN CORPORATION; PNEUMO ABEX LLC (sued as successor-in- interest to ABEX CORPORATION); SABERHAGEN HOLDINGS, INC. (sued as successor-in-interest to THE BROWER COMPANY); STANDART MOTOR PRODUCTS, INC. d/b/a EIS; SPX CORPORATION (sued individually and as successors-in-interest to UNITED DOMINION INDUSTRIES LIMITED f/k/a AMCA International Corporation, individually and as successor in interest to Desa Industries Inc. and/or Insley Manufacturing as well as Koehring Company, individually and as successor in interest to Schield Bantam Company); TEREX CORPORATION d/b/a Koehring Company individually and as successor-in-interest to Schield Bantam Company; and WELLONS, INC.,
Defendants,
GENUINE PARTS COMPANY d/b/a NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION (a/k/a NAPA), and NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION,
Respondents.
Coogan v. Borg-Warner Morse Tec Inc., et al., No. 98296-1
STEPHENS, J. - Doy Coogan died of peritoneal mesothelioma after years of
asbestos exposure through his automotive repair work and excavation business. A
jury unanimously found Genuine Parts Company (GPC) and National Automotive
Parts Association (NAPA) liable for Coogan's wrongful death and entered an $81.5
million verdict for his family and estate. GPC and NAPA moved for a new trial or
alternatively a remittitur of damages, which the trial court denied.
The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court in part and vacated the jury's
damages award. Though it rejected claims for a new trial premised on alleged
misconduct by plaintiff's counsel, it concluded that the trial court erred by excluding
one of GPC and NAPA's expert witnesses and that the jury's award was excessive.
Specifically, the Court of Appeals rejected the jury's award of noneconomic
damages in favor of its own "necessarily . . . subjective" determination that the
amount of damages was "so excessive that it shock[ed] the court's