Opinion ID: 540016
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Exclusion of Johns-Manville

Text: 25 The evidence established that asbestos products manufactured by Johns-Manville Corporation (Manville) were extensively used at Rochester Gas and Electric during the period of David Simpson's employment. Anticipating this evidence, Pittsburgh Corning had hoped to bring Manville into the litigation either as a defendant or a third-party defendant. That opportunity was barred by Manville's bankruptcy, which resulted in a reorganization plan that channeled asbestos injury claims against Manville to the Asbestos Health Trust, see Kane v. Johns-Manville Corp., 843 F.2d 636 (2d Cir.1988), and barred litigation against the Trust until July 27, 1989. On April 24, 1989, Pittsburgh Corning moved to continue the trial until after July 27 so that the Manville Trust could be joined as a defendant. The District Court denied this motion, as well as a request to have the Manville Trust added to the listing in the verdict form of companies (all settling co-defendants in this lawsuit) that may have sold unsafe products that injured Simpson. 26 Though the continuance motion raised more significant issues than normally arise when a district court considers the starting date of a trial, the denial of the motion was within the Court's discretion. As the District Judge correctly ruled, Pittsburgh Corning still retains the right to pursue the Manville Trust and, if it can establish liability, obtain contribution. The jury's allocation of responsibility among the companies it was permitted to consider does not preclude a pro rata reduction of the shares the jury assigned, in the event that Manville is subsequently determined to bear responsibility for some proportionate share of plaintiff's damages. Appellant's concerns about the difficulty of obtaining contribution are largely conjectural. The Manville bankruptcy caused many people major difficulties. The District Court was not obliged to make the postponement of this trial an additional consequence.