Court: Supreme Court of New York, New York County (NYCAL)

In this asbestos action, defendant Crosby Valve LLC moved to dismiss the action on the grounds that plaintiff John B. Daly Jr. was not exposed to asbestos from any Crosby product.

Specifically, Crosby’s motion was based on Daly’s testimony that he was exposed to asbestos from “flange gaskets” used along with Crosby valves, and not actually manufactured by Crosby.

Ultimately, the court determined that Daly’s testimony did not indicate any products manufactured by Crosby, and that Crosby had provided evidence that the gaskets identified by Daly were not required by Crosby for the use of Crosby valves. The court also found that plaintiff had not provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate that Crosby was actively involved in the asbestos gaskets at issue, or “substantially participated” in integrating such gaskets with Crosby-manufactured valves.

For these reasons, the court granted Crosby’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed the complaint entirely as to Crosby.

Read the full decision here.