Opinion ID: 398579
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Resolution of Factual Issues

Text: 51 In a typical suit for products liability, the same set of facts would prove both the manufacturer's tort liability and the insurer's contractual liability. That is not true of suits that arise out of an asbestos-related disease. The leading case concerning manufacturers' liability for asbestos damage claims is Borel v. Fibreboard Paper Products Corp., 493 F.2d 1076 (5th Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 869, 95 S.Ct. 127, 42 L.Ed.2d 107 (1974). The court in Borel held that each manufacturer who contributed in any way, and at any time, to a claimant's bodily injury is fully liable for all of the resulting damages. If a victim was exposed to the products of more than one manufacturer, each manufacturer is jointly and severally liable to the victim. See also Karjala v. Johns Manville Products Corp., 523 F.2d 155 (8th Cir. 1975). As a result, a plaintiff in a suit against Keene need not prove the full extent of his or her exposure to asbestos. Yet that set of facts is essential to determining which policies cover Keene's liability. 52 The doctrine of joint and several tort liability in this context is an accepted means of vindicating the rights of the tort victims. Nothing that we decide concerning the contractual liability of the insurers to Keene should impair the tort plaintiff's prosecution of his or her suit. 39 53 Thus initially, the full insurance obligation to Keene must be divided among the insurers whose policies are triggered based on the facts brought out in the tort suit against Keene. The possibility of additional coverage can be determined consensually among insurers, or it can be adjudicated among insurers in a subsequent lawsuit. At that point the insurance obligations can be reallocated among all the insurers whose policies are found to cover a particular injury. 40 Any facts concerning the period of exposure or the point of manifestation that are proved in an underlying tort suit need not be legally dispositive of a dispute among insurers concerning allocation of their liability. Perhaps if the underlying tort suit would not be disputed and the plaintiff would not be put to undue inconvenience, the factual record needed to allocate insurance responsibility may be developed during the course of the underlying tort suit. 41 54 If a victim sues more than one asbestos-product manufacturer, it may be impossible to prove which company's products were used at which time. If so, it will be impossible to prove that exposure to Keene's products-as opposed to those of another manufacturer-occurred during a particular time period. In such a case, there should be a presumption that throughout the victim's period of exposure to asbestos he or she was exposed to Keene's and the other manufacturers' products. The insurer defending Keene in the underlying tort suits may then try to show that Keene's products could not have been involved for certain years. 42 Similarly, if a suit arises to resolve the allocation of insurance liability, any insurance company can try to prove that there was no inhalation of Keene's asbestos during or before its policy period. If an insurance company does so, then that company will be free of liability.