A New Jersey Court of Appeals has held that fifteen Spanish citizens can sue Owens-Illinois in New Jersey for claims that they suffered asbestosis after exposure to Owens-Illinois’ Kaylo asbestos products while working aboard U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships docked at United States-Spanish military installations in Spain. The Spanish tradesmen worked on U.S. warships between 1950 and 1998. The trial judge dismissed the cases at the manufacturer’s request based on the legal doctrine of forum non conveniens, the notion that it would be too inconvenient for a defendant to defend itself in the court chosen by the plaintiff. But the Court of Appeals held that the judge had failed to consider where the plaintiffs wanted their lawsuits heard. The court also observed that U.S. warships are considered U.S. territory wherever they are located and that the tradesmen’s health problems occurred aboard ship and not on Spanish soil. The court rejected Owens-Illinois’ suggestion that U.S. ships are subject to Spanish law when docked there and noted that the rule urged by the manufacturer applies to civilian, not military, ships. The Court of Appeals held that the asbestos manufacturer had failed to show that Spain was an adequate alternative forum and that the trial judge had failed to consider all the relevant factors in reaching a decision. John Garde, Owens-Illinois’ lawyer in Newark, claimed to be puzzled by the ruling, given his assessment that the cases have “absolutely no relation to New Jersey.” But the Court of Appeals noted that New Jersey was home to the manufacturer’s asbestos Kaylo division “for years.”
Source: Varo v. Owens-Illinois, Inc., — A.2d —-, 2008 WL 2174349 (N.J.Super.A.D. 2008). For more on this story, go to the Star-Ledger.
