The Court of Appeals issued a significant ruling on expert proof in the asbestos arena, holding that the plaintiff in a mesothelioma case had not provided sufficient evidence of causation and affirming the vacatur of an $11 million jury award. In In the Matter of New York City Asbestos Litigation, plaintiff’s deceased husband was an auto mechanic who claimed exposure to asbestos dust while working on brakes, clutches and gaskets sold or distributed by Ford Motor Company. The court concluded that “the evidence was insufficient as a matter of law to establish that [Ford’s] conduct was a proximate cause of the decedent’s injuries” and that Ford was therefore entitled to judgment as a matter of law under CPLR 4404(a).

The decedent, Arthur Juni, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2012. He had worked as an auto mechanic from 1966 to 2009 in two garages owned by Orange & Rockland Utilities servicing mostly Ford vehicles. He brought suit against a number of defendants, including Ford Motor Company, but died in 2014 before trial. His wife continued the lawsuit, asserting claims for negligence, products liability, failure to warn and loss of consortium. Before he died, Juni testified in a deposition, which was read to the jury during a 20-day trial. Juni testified that he was exposed to asbestos-containing dust in a variety of ways, including when he removed brake drums from Ford trucks, replaced brakes in a variety of Ford vehicles, scuffed new brakes with sandpaper, replaced clutches, cleaned gaskets, and swept up asbestos-laden dust generated by other mechanics. Over the four week trial, the jury also heard from experts in epidemiology, toxicology, medicine, occupational hazards, and environmental science.

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