J-A01026-19
NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
MARC LEE LAMSON, AS SUCCEEDING IN THE SUPERIOR COURT EXECUTOR OF THE ESTATE OF LEON OF PENNSYLVANIA FRANKLIN LAMSON, JR., DECEASED
Appellant
v.
GEORGIA-PACIFIC LLC F/K/A GEORGIA- PACIFIC CORPORATION, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO BESTWALL GYPSUM COMPANY; BIRD, INCORPORATED (INDIVIDUALLY AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO BIRD & SON, BIRD, INC. AND BIRD ROOFING PRODUCTS, INC.); CARRIER CORPORATION, INDIVIDUALLY AND D/B/A "BRYANT HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEMS"; FISMIDTH, INC., INDIVIDUALLY AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN- INTEREST TO FULLER COMPANY AND TRAYLOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING CO.; HANSON PERMANENTE CEMENT, INC. (F/K/A KAISER CEMENT CORPORATION, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN- INTEREST TO KAISER GYPSUM COMPANY, INC.); KAISER GYPSUM COMPANY, INC.; WEIL-MCLAIN COMPANY, INC.; OWENS-ILLINOIS, INC., INDIVIDUALLY AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO OWENS- ILLINOIS GLASS COMPANY AND D/B/A O-I; UNION CARBIDE CORPORATION; YORK INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN- INTEREST TO CENTRAL ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS, INC. F/K/A BORG-WARNER CENTRAL ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS, INC; YORK- LUXAIRE, INC.; LUXAIRE INC. AND THE C.A. OLSEN MANUFACTURING COMPANY J-A01026-19
AND D/B/A "MONCRIEF FURNACES"; ZURN INDUSTRIES INC. A/K/A AND SUCCESSOR-BY-MERGER TO ERIE CITY IRON WORKS AND D/B/A "KEYSTONE" BRANDED PRODUCTS; WEYERHAEUSER COMPANY; DUGGAN & MARCON, INC.; AND INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY
Appellees No. 1459 EDA 2018
Appeal from the Order Entered April 13, 2018 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Civil Division at No: 00073, April Term 2015
BEFORE: OTT, STABILE, AND MCLAUGHLIN, JJ.
MEMORANDUM BY STABILE, J.: FILED MAY 22, 2019
Appellant, Marc Lee Lamson, succeeding executor of the estate of Leon
Franklin Lamson, deceased, appeals from an order granting summary
judgment to Appellees, International Paper Company ("IP") and
Weyerhaeuser Company, in this asbestos exposure action. The trial court
concluded that Appellant1 failed to demonstrate he was exposed to asbestos
from fire doors manufactured by Appellees. We hold that Appellant submitted
sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue of material fact on this question.
Accordingly, we reverse.
Appellant worked as a carpenter at DuPont in Gibbstown, New Jersey
from 1962 to 1967 and at the Philadelphia Navy Yard from 1967 to 1971. He
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1 For the sake of convenience, we will refer to the decedent as "Appellant."
J-A01026-19
became an inspector at the Navy Yard in 1971 and then a general foreman in
1981. He retired in 1994.
Appellant alleged that he regularly installed and repaired fire doors
during his employment as a carpenter at DuPont and the Navy Yard. Fire
doors served as emergency exit doors and operated on fuses that detected
heat in the event of a fire and shut automatically to prevent the fire from
spreading. Appellant worked with fire doors frequently because there were
thousands of them throughout the Navy Yard. Lamson dep., 6/6/15, at 55.
The two most common brands of fire doors were from U.S. Plywood (IP's
predecessor) and Weyerhaeuser. Id. at 57-58. Appellant "constantly"
repaired fire doors because they were "old and coming apart." Id. at 51-52.
He also installed and removed the doors, often with a saw. Id. at 52-55.
Appellant had to cut fire doors