Opinion ID: 447554
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whether Asbestos Cement Flatsheet Was Used on the Reconstruction Projects

Text: 7 National Gypsum argues that the evidence does not support the trial court's conclusion that asbestos cement flatsheet was used in the reconstruction projects on which Gifford worked. Rather, National Gypsum argues, it is much more probable that some other material, such as gypsum wallboard, was used in the reconstruction projects. 8 National Gypsum argues first that Gifford's testimony regarding exposure to asbestos during the reconstruction projects is contradicted by Gifford's statements to his treating physicians. While Gifford testified in his videotaped deposition that his only exposure to asbestos that he could recall occurred during his work on reconstruction of the barracks, medical records indicated that Gifford told his treating physicians that he had been exposed to asbestos throughout his career as an electrician. Where a witness' statement is contradicted by his own prior statements, the resolution of such conflicting evidence remains the province of the district court. Floyd v. Segars, 572 F.2d 1018, 1022 (5th Cir.1978). In choosing to credit the statements that Gifford made under oath, the trial court did not clearly err. 9 National Gypsum also argues that tests performed on the Scott Street building at the University of Kentucky in Lexington demonstrate that asbestos material was not used in the reconstruction projects. The Scott Street Building was identified by J. Fred Miller, who had also worked on the reconstruction projects, as the only building of the project still standing. After the building was identified by Miller in his deposition, National Gypsum's expert witness, Jerry Williams, conducted tests on the walls and ceilings of the Scott Street building and found that they did not contain asbestos. This testimony, however, cannot be considered conclusive. The Scott Street Building differed from the other buildings upon which Gifford and Miller worked since the Scott Street building was used for offices rather than living quarters. Moreover, the trial court weighed National Gypsum's expert testimony against that of eyewitnesses; Miller, as well as the plaintiff-decedent Gifford, testified that asbestos cement flatsheet was used in constructing the buildings. 2 10 Further, other testimony indicated that asbestos cement flatsheet was used in the reconstruction projects. Gifford testified that he recalled that the wallboard used in the reconstruction projects was nailed after the carpenters on the reconstruction projects drilled holes in the wallboard. Nailing wallboard after predrilling the holes in the fashion described by Gifford is consistent with the use of asbestos cement flatsheet; other types of wallboard, such as gypsum wallboard, is nailed without predrilling. 3 11 Finally, National Gypsum contends that asbestos cement flatsheet would not have been used in the reconstruction projects because asbestos cement flatsheet is more brittle and generally less suitable than other types of wallboard (such as gypsum wallboard) for interior use. Plaintiff, however, introduced advertising stating that asbestos cement flatsheet was suitable for dozens of uses that rule out ordinary interior or exterior wall materials. 12 Thus, on each of these arguments raised by National Gypsum, the trial court was confronted with conflicting evidence. From this conflicting evidence, the trial court credited the eyewitness testimony of Gifford and his co-worker (Miller) and concluded that asbestos cement flatsheet was used in the reconstruction projects. In doing so, it cannot be said that the trial court clearly erred. 13