PUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 19-1391
DOROTHY E. SMITH, Individually and as Executrix of the Estate of Julian Jackson Smith,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
SCHLAGE LOCK COMPANY, LLC,
Defendant - Appellee,
and
AMETEK, INC., sued individually and as successor-in-interest to Haveg Industries, Inc.; successor-in-interest to Hercules, Inc.; ASTENJOHNSON, INC., f/k/a The Asten Group; BECHTEL CORPORATION; CATERPILLAR, INC.; CBS CORPORATION, f/k/a Viacom, Inc., sued as successor-by-merger to CBS Corporation f/k/a Westinghouse Electric Corporation and as successor-in-interest to Haveg Industries, Inc.; CHAMPION INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION; CHAMPLAIN CABLE CORPORATION, f/k/a Hercules, Inc., and as successor-in- interest to Haveg Industries, Inc.; COLGATE-PALMOLIVE COMPANY; CUMMINS POWER GENERATION, INC., d/b/a Cummins Onan; FISHER CONTROLS INTERNATIONAL, LLC; FLOWSERVE CORPORATION, f/k/a The Duron Company, Inc., sued as successor-by-merger to Durco International and also sued as successor-in-interest to Anchor Darling Valves f/k/a Darling Manufacturing; FOSTER WHEELER ENERGY CORPORATION; GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY; THE GORMAN-RUPP COMPANY; GOULDS PUMPS, INC.; GRINNELL, LLC, d/b/a Grinnell Corp.; HERCULES, INC.; HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL, INC., f/k/a Allied-Signal, Inc., sued as successor-in-interest to Bendix Corporation; INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY; THE NASH ENGINEERING COMPANY; RILEY POWER, INC., f/k/a Riley Stoker Corporation, f/k/a D.B. Riley, Inc.; SEQUOIA VENTURES, INC., f/k/a Bechtel Corporation; WARREN PUMPS, LLC; WESTERN AUTO SUPPLY, d/b/a Advance Auto Parts; WEYERHAEUSER COMPANY; THE WILLIAM POWELL COMPANY; SCOTT CO. OF CALIFORNIA; TOMPKINS-BECKWITH, INC.; INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION, d/b/a IBM; WEATHERLY, INC., sued as successor-in-interest to D.M. Weatherly; FARMERS CHEMICAL ASSOCIATION, INC.; THE RUST ENGINEERING COMPANY; BRIGGS & STRATTON CORPORATION; TEXTRON, INC., d/b/a Lycoming Engines; DAVIS-STANDARD CORPORATION; ANDRITZ, INC., f/k/a Ahlstrom Machinery, Inc., f/k/a Kamyr, Inc.; DEZURIK, INC., d/b/a Dezurik-Apco Williametter Eagle, Inc.; CERTAINTEED CORPORATION,
Defendants.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, at Greensboro. Loretta C. Biggs, District Judge. (1:16-cv-00379-LCB-LPA)
Submitted: December 11, 2020 Decided: January 27, 2021
Before AGEE, WYNN, and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by published per curiam opinion.
Lisa White Shirley, DEAN OMAR BRANHAM SHIRLEY LLP, Dallas, Texas; Janet Ward Black, WARD BLACK LAW, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellant. Michael W. Drumke, Catherine Basque Weiler, SWANSON, MARTIN & BELL, LLP, Chicago, Illinois, for Appellee.
PER CURIAM:
In 2016, Julian Jackson Smith was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a form of cancer
usually caused by asbestos exposure. He died from the illness the following year.
Before his death, Mr. Smith and his wife, Dorothy Smith, brought this action
alleging that Schlage Lock Co. and dozens of other defendants may have exposed Mr.
Smith to asbestos at some point in the past. Relevant to this appeal, the Smiths sued Schlage
Lock on the theory that Mr. Smith inhaled asbestos fibers while working as a pipefitter
during the construction of a Schlage Lock plant in Rocky Mount, North Carolina in 1972.
The district court granted summary judgment to Schlage Lock. We affirm.
I.
Mesothelioma is an aggressive, painful form of cancer that is usually untreatable.
The Smiths' expert, Dr. Edwin Holstein, explained that mesothelioma in the United States
is almost always caused by the patient's cumulative exposure to asbestos, though