Strength of Mesothelioma Victim’s Testimony Defeats Asbestos Company’s Arguments
It has been well established that exposure to asbestos causes malignant mesothelioma, a rare and deadly form of cancer that often claims its victims’ lives within months of diagnosis. But despite this and strong evidence to the contrary, asbestos companies exert tremendous effort to argue against their role in mesothelioma victims’ illnesses. In a recent case, a New York man’s clear testimony defeated an asbestos company’s motion to have his case against them dismissed.
Asbestos-Contaminated Fire Doors in Theater Blamed for Man’s Mesothelioma
The mesothelioma lawsuit was filed in 2021 by James Witte and his wife Holly, naming several companies that they blamed for having exposed him to asbestos. Though Mr. Witte died of his disease, he had the opportunity to submit testimony about his exposure, recalling asbestos-contaminated doors in an old Broadway theater that he had been renovating. His memory of the work involving fire doors manufactured by T.M. Cobb Company was of “a lot of dust. A lot of old insulation.”
Though the mesothelioma victim’s testimony was clear and detailed, T.M. Cobb Company filed a motion to have the case against them dismissed based on their argument that they were a California Company and had never sold products or conducted business in the state of New York.
New York Judge Denies Petition to Dismiss Mesothelioma Lawsuit
Though the fire door company argued that they should not have to stand trial in New York because they did not do business in New York, Justice Adam Silvera of the Supreme Court of New York first looked at deposition testimony from their president, Jeffrey Cobb: He noted that though Cobb claimed that his company had never sold doors in New York, he had not provided any documentation to support his statement and that because he hadn’t worked for the company during the years in question, he had no personal knowledge to back up his statements.
Though the judge also singled out the company’s lack of document retention policy as hurting their argument, he also noted that according to New York precedent, the strong and clear testimony of the mesothelioma victim was enough to raise questions of fact that required that the case move forward for a jury to decide.
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