The Delaware Superior Court has thrown out a widow's claims that Union Carbide Corp. was liable for her husband's asbestos-related illness and death.

Superior Court Judge Jeffrey J. Clark granted Union Carbide's request for summary judgment on plaintiff Marianne Robinson's defective-design strict liability and failure to warn claims, concluding that Robinson failed to present issues of material fact.

Robinson's husband was exposed to the asbestos product Calidria, sold in bulk by Union Carbide to Georgia-Pacific, which then put it into compounds sold to consumers, according to Clark's opinion.

Clark said the issue began with whether Union Carbide had a duty to warn Robinson's husband about the dangers of asbestos. In this case, Ohio law applied and Union Carbide was able to utilize the bulk supplier defense. The defense allows the supplier to shift the duty to warn to the intermediary that sells to the end-user.

"At the outset, Ms. Robinson argues that the traditional requirements for the defense apply. Namely, she argues UCC would have been relieved of its duty to warn Mr. Robinson only if Georgia-Pacific (1) was a sophisticated bulk purchaser, (2) if UCC gave Georgia-Pacific an adequate warning, and (3) UCC reasonably relied upon Georgia-Pacific to warn its customers," Clark said in an Aug. 15 opinion. "UCC counters that while there is no issue of material fact regarding the sufficiency of its warnings to Georgia-Pacific, Ohio law requires only two things. Namely, UCC argues that Georgia-Pacific must have only been adequately informed about the dangers of bulk asbestos and must have had the ability to warn the ultimate consumer."

Clark said that Georgia-Pacific was indeed a sophisticated bulk purchaser and that the facts were stacked against Robinson.

"When considering the evidence of record with the appropriate deference, no reasonable jury could find for Ms. Robinson on this issue," Clark said. "Namely, no jury could reasonably find other than that Georgia-Pacific was (1) fully knowledgeable about the dangers of asbestos and was thus sophisticated, (2) UCC gave Georgia-Pacific adequate warnings regarding the dangers of Calidria, and (3) UCC reasonably relied upon Georgia-Pacific to warn Mr. Robinson."

As for Robinson's remaining claims, Clark said that while Calidria may be defective in design or formulation, Robinson failed to prove that it was the proximate cause of her husband's mesothelioma.

"Here, the court recognizes the appropriate deference due to Ms. Robinson regarding the issue of proximate cause. Nevertheless, she has not identified sufficient evidence of record that would justify any reasonable jury in finding for her on the issue of product identification," Clark said.

Patrick J. Smith of Balick & Balick in Wilmington represents Robinson and did not respond to a request for comment.

Joseph S. Naylor of Swartz Campbell represents Union Carbide and did not respond to a request for comment.