Judge Rules Japanese Brake Company Cannot Escape Mesothelioma Litigation

There was once a time when almost all automotive brakes were fabricated using asbestos, and exposure to dust from these contaminated parts has been blamed for countless cases of malignant mesothelioma. In a recent lawsuit, a Japanese manufacturer of brakes attempted to evade liability for the harm that their product caused by insisting that the state of California had no authority to hear the case.

Japanese Brake Manufacturer Named in Man’s Mesothelioma Lawsuit

When Akebono Brake Industry Co., Ltd. and its subsidiary, Akebono Brake Corporation, found itself named in George Sweikhart’s mesothelioma lawsuit, they almost instantly filed a petition requesting dismissal. The basis for their motion was a purported lack of personal jurisdiction because the case was filed in the state of California and they are a Japanese company.

Though their motion to dismiss the mesothelioma claim was denied by the Superior Court of California, the company tried again, insisting that they could not legally be served with legal documents and that they had no meaningful place of business in the state.

Company’s Connections with State of California Made Clear in Mesothelioma Victim’s Case

Though Akebono insisted that they had never ‘purposefully caused’ or ‘deliberately directed’ its Japanese or United States subsidiaries to engage in contacts with California,” the mesothelioma victim provided evidence that the parts had been used throughout his tenure at a California car dealership from 1969 to 1985 and then again from 1986 to 1997 and from 1998 to 2000. In support of the assertion that the parts were readily available and constantly used within the state, the court heard that the company had sold hundreds of thousands of parts to a distributor in the state, and had also registered its subsidiary with the state and worked to remain in compliance with state regulations.

The court ruled that the mesothelioma victim had used Akebono’s asbestos-contaminated parts and that they’d played a role in his illness. They also denied Akebono’s argument, saying that there was “sufficient evidence that Akebono purposefully availed itself of forum benefits in California at the time George Sweikhart testified he was using Akebono parts in California.”