Albert Whatley, Cross-Appellee v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc., Raymark Industries, Inc., Cross-Appellant

861 F.2d 837
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 24, 1989
Docket87-1710
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 861 F.2d 837 (Albert Whatley, Cross-Appellee v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc., Raymark Industries, Inc., Cross-Appellant) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Albert Whatley, Cross-Appellee v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc., Raymark Industries, Inc., Cross-Appellant, 861 F.2d 837 (5th Cir. 1989).

Opinions

REAVLEY, Circuit Judge:

Albert Whatley brought this products liability action to trial for injuries arising from his exposure to the asbestos products of Raymark Industries’ predecessor, Raybestos-Manhattan. The jury found in Whatley’s favor but he contends the jury’s findings of 90.01% contributory causation by ten settling defendants is without sufficient evidence. Raymark’s cross-appeal challenges the award for future medical expenses. We affirm in part but modify the recovery against Raymark.

I. FACTS

Albert Whatley was employed for over thirty years as a chipper at an Alabama shipyard. Whatley’s work, smoothing the finish of iron surfaces onboard ships, often placed him in close unventilated spaces. Although he did not personally use asbestos-containing products, Whatley worked alongside other tradesman, including insulators, who used such products. Over the course of his employment Whatley was exposed to asbestos dust consequential to the use of asbestos-containing products. Whatley retired in 1982 and later developed lung cancer, which was diagnosed and operated on in 1986.

Whatley filed this product liability suit against Raymark Industries and thirteen other defendants, all of whom he alleged caused his lung ailments by the asbestos from their products. One defendant was severed after filing insolvency proceedings. Whatley reached a settlement with twelve of the defendants and proceeded to trial against Raymark alone. The jury returned a verdict in Whatley’s favor. Raymark and ten of the settling defendants were found to have manufactured defectively designed asbestos products that were producing causes of Whatley’s injuries. The jury assigned a percentage of contributory causation to each defendant, 9.09% to Raymark and nine of the settling defendants and 9.10% to another settling defendant. The damages award was correspondingly reduced by 90.01% to represent Raymark’s 9.09% responsibility.

Whatley filed this appeal contending that there is insufficient evidence to support the percentage of causation allocated by the jury to the settling defendants. Raymark responds that there is sufficient evidence in support of the contributory causation by the settling defendants or, in the alternative, if the evidence is insufficient as to the settling defendants it is also insufficient as to Raymark. Raymark also presents a cross-appeal challenging the award of future medical expenses.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Comparative Causation of Settling Defendants

In Duncan v. Cessna Aircraft Co., 665 S.W.2d 414 (Tex.1984), the Texas Supreme [839]*839Court established a system of comparative causation to be applied in strict products liability cases.1 Under this system the jury apportions responsibility among all — including non-settling defendants, settling defendants, and the plaintiff — whose acts or products combined to cause the plaintiffs injuries. The non-settling defendants’ liability and the plaintiffs recovery are to be reduced by the total percentage share assigned to the settling defendants. Id. at 429. The non-settling defendant must establish the liability of settling defendants in order to benefit from Duncan ’s system of comparative causation. Dartez v. Fibreboard Corp., 765 F.2d 456, 474 (5th Cir.1985); see Shipp v. General Motors Corp., 750 F.2d 418, 425 (5th Cir.1985) (Duncan placed the allocative burden of comparative causation on the defendant).

1. Sufficiency of the Evidence

Whatley contends that Raymark failed to provide sufficient evidence of his exposure to the asbestos containing products of the settling defendants and is thus not entitled to a reduction in the damages award. The federal standard for review of sufficiency of the evidence applies in diversity cases. This court must review all the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict and must affirm the verdict unless the evidence points “so strongly and overwhelmingly in favor of one party that the Court believes that reasonable men could not arrive at a contrary [conclusion].” Boeing Co. v. Shipman, 411 F.2d 365, 374 (5th Cir.1969).

As an initial matter, Raymark argues that 'Whatley’s “judicial admissions” provide more than sufficient proof of the liability of all ten settling defendants. Specifically, Raymark contends that statements made by Whatley in his complaint, pretrial order, answers to interrogatories as well as statements by counsel and witnesses, are judicial admissions and as such are binding upon Whatley. Whatley responds that allegations in his complaint claiming that the settling defendants made defective products that caused his harm constitute inconsistent pleadings and as such are not binding. Liberal pleadings and flexible joinder are favored as methods of promoting efficient and fair judicial administration. See, 5 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure §§ 1282, 1283 (1969); 7 C. Wright & A. Miller, M. Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure §§ 1601, 1602, 1604 (1986 & Supp.1988). Although Whatley’s pleadings are not technically inconsistent, we find the same policies to be applicable here. See Continental Ins. Co. of New York v. Sherman, 439 F.2d 1294, 1298 (5th Cir.1971).

Duncan specifically allows the non-settling defendant to reduce his liability to the plaintiff only upon providing evidence to the jury of the percentage of causation attributable to the settling defendants. Not only do the statements to which Ray-mark points provide little real evidence of the liability of the settling defendants, but they provide no evidence upon which a jury could determine the percentage or extent of liability as required by Duncan. To make Whatley’s pleadings conclusive on this issue would render the Duncan requirement meaningless. We decline to adopt Raymark’s view and look to the totality of the evidence in reaching our conclusions.2

The Texas Supreme Court in Duncan did not quantify the evidence required to support a finding of contributory causation. That decision and Fifth Circuit decisions in its wake, however, refer to the non-settling defendant’s burden as that of establishing [840]*840liability. See Duncan, 665 S.W.2d at 434; Dartez, 765 F.2d at 474. In light of this language and in the absence of language in support of a different burden under Duncan, we look to the burden of proof that has been imposed on litigants in other asbestos product cases to determine whether sufficient evidence of liability for contributory causation was provided in this case.

Issues of insufficiency of the evidence as to causation require consideration of the nature of the product and the extent of the plaintiffs exposure. Gideon v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp., 761 F.2d 1129, 1143 (5th Cir.1985). A survey of Fifth Circuit challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence in asbestos litigation reveals a varying requirement of proof. In

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Bluebook (online)
861 F.2d 837, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/albert-whatley-cross-appellee-v-armstrong-world-industries-inc-raymark-ca5-1989.