Can A Mesothelioma Victim Sue a Foreign Asbestos Company?

Being diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma is a challenging and painful experience. At the same time that they’re dealing with the pain of the disease and the shortcomings of available treatments, victims are also faced with questions about pursuing legal action against those responsible for their exposure to asbestos. With many asbestos-contaminated products being manufactured outside of the United States, pursuing legal action can be complicated.

Japanese Brake Manufacture Argues Against Legal Liability for Man’s Mesothelioma

When George Sweikhart was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, the former autoworker and his wife Christina filed suit against Akebono Brake Industry Co., Ltd. (ABIC), accusing the Japanese company of negligence in having sold asbestos-contaminated brake parts that had caused his illness. The company went to court to quash the claim, arguing that under the Hague Convention the filing’s service of process was improperly done because the couple had presented their legal documents at the company’s Los Angeles office.

Though a lower court agreed with the company and dismissed the case, the Court of Appeals of California reversed that decision, noting that because the company had incorporated its American subsidiary Akebono Brake Corporation in the United States in 1980 and had a general manager in the United States, California law permitted service of process through that office.

Court’s Ruling Offers Opportunity for Justice for Mesothelioma Victim

The court ruled that when the legal documents pertaining to the Sweikhart’s mesothelioma claim were handed to and accepted by the Japanese company’s American representative, they had accomplished the requirement of “delivery by hand of a copy of any process to the ‘general manager in this state’ of a foreign corporation.” They noted that previous precedent had interpreted ‘general manager’ as “construed to mean any agent of sufficient rank to make it reasonably certain the agent will apprise the defendant of service.”

As a result of this decision, the mesothelioma victim and his wife will be able to pursue their claim against the Japanese auto parts company. The decision also sets a precedent that future victims can pursue in cases where asbestos-contaminated parts are manufactured outside of the United States.