Opinion ID: 844228
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Plaintiff's Exposure to Asbestos

Text: Patrick O'Neil served on the USS Oriskany (Oriskany) from 1965 to 1967. The Oriskany was a large Essex class aircraft carrier carrying up to 4,000 crewmembers. The ship was authorized in 1942, launched in 1945, and commissioned to active service in 1950. Crane and Warren supplied equipment for the Oriskany 's steam propulsion system in 1943 or earlier, at least 20 years before O'Neil worked aboard the ship. Among his other duties on the Oriskany, O'Neil supervised the enlisted men who repaired equipment in the engine and boiler rooms. This work exposed him to airborne asbestos fibers. Asbestos-containing products are not dangerous when intact. The health hazard arises when the products are cut or damaged, releasing asbestos fibers that can be inhaled. (See San Francisco Unified School Dist. v. W.R. Grace & Co. (1995) 37 Cal.App.4th 1318, 1325 [44 Cal.Rptr.2d 305].) To access a piece of equipment, repairmen first had to remove the outer layer of insulation, which generated large amounts of asbestos dust. Removal of the flange gaskets connecting pumps and valves to other components also produced asbestos dust, as did removal and replacement of the packing and gaskets inside pumps and valves. A coworker testified that O'Neil encountered dust from all of these sources. As early as 1922, the Navy was aware that airborne asbestos could potentially cause lung diseases. Its industrial hygienists conducted studies on the health effects of asbestos exposure from the prewar period until well into the 1960's. Nevertheless, the Navy did not warn seamen about the hazards of working with asbestos-containing materials and did not advise them to wear respirators or take other precautions during dusty work. [2] To the extent O'Neil was exposed to dust generated during work on pumps and valves, no evidence was presented that any of the asbestos-containing dust came from a product made by Crane or Warren. Neither company manufactured or sold the external insulation or flange gaskets that repairmen removed. Although Crane's valves and Warren's pumps contained internal asbestos-containing gaskets and packing when the Oriskany was built, these original components had been replaced long before O'Neil boarded the ship 20 years later. There was no evidence that any of these replacement parts were made by Crane or Warren. In 2004, nearly 40 years after he worked on the Oriskany, O'Neil developed mesothelioma, a fatal cancer of the lining of the lung caused by asbestos exposure. He died just over a year later, at age 62. In 2006, O'Neil's family filed a wrongful death complaint raising strict liability and negligence claims against several companies that had allegedly supplied asbestos-containing products to the Navy. Following the close of evidence, Crane moved for nonsuit on all causes of action. Among other things, Crane argued there was no evidence O'Neil had been exposed to asbestos from any Crane product, and no evidence that any product defect or failure to warn by Crane was a substantial factor in causing O'Neil's mesothelioma. Warren joined Crane's motion and also sought nonsuit on the ground that no evidence showed O'Neil had been exposed to any asbestos from the repair or maintenance of a Warren pump. In response, plaintiffs' counsel argued that even if O'Neil was not exposed to asbestos released from a Crane or Warren product, these manufacturers bore responsibility for his injuries because their products originally included asbestos-containing components, and it was foreseeable that these parts would wear and be replaced with other asbestos-containing components, and that these repair and maintenance procedures would release harmful asbestos dust. The trial court granted the motions and dismissed all claims against Crane and Warren. [3] The court found there was no evidence defendants' products were inherently dangerous except for the undisturbed internal asbestos components some contained. Further, although the nonsuit motions did not raise this ground, the court found that the component parts doctrine shielded defendants from liability because the Navy integrated defendants' nondefective products into a larger, sophisticated system, and defendants did not control or participate in this integration process. (See Artiglio v. General Electric Co. (1998) 61 Cal.App.4th 830 [71 Cal.Rptr.2d 817]; Rest.3d Torts, Products Liability, § 5.) On appeal, this decision was reversed. The Court of Appeal held that the component parts defense applies only to manufacturers of multiuse or fungible products designed to be altered and incorporated into another product. It then concluded defendants' products did not meet these requirements. The Court of Appeal also rejected defendants' argument that they could not be found strictly liable because they did not manufacture or supply the asbestos-containing products that caused O'Neil's mesothelioma. The court announced a broad definition of strict products liability: [A] manufacturer is liable in strict liability for the dangerous components of its products, and for dangerous products with which its product will necessarily be used. Even though it was replacement gaskets and packing that caused O'Neil's disease, the court concluded these replacement parts were no different from the asbestos-containing components originally included in defendants' products. The court remarked, If respondents had warned the hypothetical original user, or protected that person by avoiding defective design, subsequent users, too, would have been protected. The Court of Appeal asserted defendants' products were defectively designed because they required asbestos packing and insulation. This factual assertion is unsupported by the record. Trial evidence established that the requirement for asbestos derived from military specifications, not from any inherent aspect of defendants' pump and valve designs. [4] We granted review and now reverse.