Judge Orders Asbestos Company to Produce Evidence for Mesothelioma Trial

Eric and Christine Slonim are seeking compensation from two film editing machine companies that they blame for her malignant mesothelioma, but to win their case they need proof that the companies’ products were contaminated with asbestos. In response to the couple’s suit the companies refused to cooperate and denied the couple’s request that they provide old equipment for inspection. While the Slonims took matters into their own hands and secured the machines by purchasing them on E-Bay, the judge hearing the case later ordered the company to comply.

Asbestos in Old Movie Equipment Blamed for Malignant Mesothelioma

Christine’s diagnosis with malignant mesothelioma was a shock to the couple, and they worked hard to determine where she had been exposed to asbestos. When they reviewed possible sources, they determined that the Moviola film editing equipment that Eric had spent two decades servicing were insulated with the material and that he had likely carried the dust into their home, where she then inhaled it.

Second-Hand Exposure to Asbestos Causes Malignant Mesothelioma

When mesothelioma is the result of asbestos that is carried into the home by the person who was directly exposed to it, it’s called second-hand exposure. Second-hand exposure to asbestos is responsible for a significant percentage of mesothelioma in women whose husbands or other family members worked near the carcinogen, as Eric Slonim had from 1969 through the mid-1980s when he serviced equipment manufactured by Magnasync/Moviola Corporation and J & R Film Co.

The Slonims asked the companies to provide samples of the machines so that they could be tested for the presence of asbestos, but both denied their requests, saying that they did not have those models in their possession. The coupled asked the court to compel the companies to produce the equipment, but at the same time they took matters into their own hands and located identical equipment for sale on E-bay. Those machines tested positive for asbestos.

Judge Compels Companies to Provide Equipment for Testing

Once the case was presented in court, the companies admitted to having located the same models of equipment that the Slonims blamed for Mrs. Slonim’s illness, though they maintained that there was no proof that they were the same machines that Mr. Slonim had worked with. The judge moved the case forward by ordering the equipment be provided to the couple and tested.