Gutierrez v. Cassiar Mining Corp.

64 Cal. App. 4th 148
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 26, 1998
DocketA076156
StatusPublished

This text of 64 Cal. App. 4th 148 (Gutierrez v. Cassiar Mining Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gutierrez v. Cassiar Mining Corp., 64 Cal. App. 4th 148 (Cal. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

64 Cal.App.4th 148 (1998)

FRANK GUTIERREZ, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
CASSIAR MINING CORPORATION, Defendant and Appellant.

Docket No. A076156.

Court of Appeals of California, First District, Division Two.

May 26, 1998.

*151 COUNSEL

Stark, Well, Rahl, Schwartz & Schieffer, May Lee Tong, Shea & Gardner, Thomas J. Mikula, David J. Katz and Reena N. Glazer for Defendant and Appellant.

James L. Oberman and Brayton Harley Curtis for Plaintiff and Respondent.

OPINION

LAMBDEN, J.

A jury in the damage phase of a trial pertaining to asbestos-related injuries awarded plaintiff Frank Gutierrez (Gutierrez) damages of $97,240, including $37,240 as economic damages, for occupational exposure to asbestos at a cement manufacturing plant for which defendant Cassiar Mining Corporation (Cassiar) was the supplier of asbestos fiber. Cassiar appeals the judgment, raising three challenges to the economic damages under Potter v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. (1993) 6 Cal.4th 965 [25 Cal. Rptr.2d 550, 863 P.2d 795] (Potter), and one against the entire judgment for the exclusion of a defense witness. We will reverse in part.

A brief overview is enough to frame the key issues. Gutierrez, age 46 at the time of trial, worked from 1970 to 1975 for the manufacturer CertainTeed, at a plant in Santa Clara, where the exposure took place. The jury's *152 special verdict assigned percentages of comparative fault at 20 for Cassiar, 55 for CertainTeed, 2 for Gutierrez and 23 for "all others." Gutierrez had not yet suffered serious disability or medical costs but had early signs of asbestos-related lung injury and sought, as economic damages, the costs of future medical monitoring. Cassiar did not dispute being the plant's supplier of asbestos and, for the most part, conceded Gutierrez's medical condition. It defended against negligence and product liability allegations by stressing comparative fault, warnings Cassiar placed on its product, general knowledge by asbestos workers (by the early 1970's) of asbestos exposure risks, and preexisting lung conditions caused by Gutierrez having smoked and had exposure to tuberculosis (TB). This appeal concerns, for the most part, issues about the preexisting conditions.

APPEAL

I. Medical monitoring damages

(1a) Cassiar's first two contentions share a single legal underpinning — the need under Potter for a toxics-exposed plaintiff to show that economic damages for costs of medical monitoring are attributable to the alleged exposure and not preexisting conditions.

(2) Potter held: "[T]he cost of medical monitoring is a compensable item of damages where the proofs demonstrate, through reliable medical expert testimony, that the need for future monitoring is a reasonably certain consequence of a plaintiff's toxic exposure and that the recommended monitoring is reasonable. In determining the reasonableness and necessity of monitoring, the following factors are relevant: (1) the significance and extent of the plaintiff's exposure to chemicals; (2) the toxicity of the chemicals; (3) the relative increase in the chance of onset of disease in the exposed plaintiff as a result of the exposure, when compared to (a) the plaintiff's chances of developing the disease had he or she not been exposed, and (b) the chances of the members of the public at large of developing the disease; (4) the seriousness of the disease for which the plaintiff is at risk; and (5) the clinical value of early detection and diagnosis. Under this holding, it is for the trier of fact to decide, on the basis of competent medical testimony, whether and to what extent the particular plaintiff's exposure to toxic chemicals in a given situation justifies future periodic medical monitoring." (Potter, supra, 6 Cal.4th 965, 1009, approving Miranda v. Shell Oil Co. (1993) 17 Cal. App.4th 1651, 1655-1657 [26 Cal. Rptr.2d 655].)

(1b) The trial court below gave BAJI No. 14.10.1, which tracked the Potter language just quoted, modified to refer to "asbestos" rather than *153 "chemicals." Cassiar, however, concentrates on what the instruction did not go on to say.

(3) Potter had added, as to preexisting conditions: "[T]oxic exposure plaintiffs may recover `only if the evidence establishes the necessity, as a direct consequence of the exposure in issue, for specific monitoring beyond that which an individual should pursue as a matter of general good sense and foresight.' [Citation.] Thus there can be no recovery for preventative medical care and checkups to which members of the public at large should prudently submit. [Citation.]" (Potter, supra, 6 Cal.4th at p. 1009, fn. omitted.) The court then cited the example of a plaintiff with voluntary exposure to carcinogens through smoking, and concluded: "While there is no question that a defendant ought not to be liable for medical monitoring of a plaintiff's preexisting condition that is unaffected by a subsequent toxic exposure negligently caused by the defendant, we see no reason why the defendant should not be held responsible for any increased or different monitoring of the preexisting condition (whether or not the preexisting condition is caused by the plaintiff's voluntary conduct) where necessitated as a direct result of the subsequent exposure." (Potter, supra, 6 Cal.4th at p. 1009, fn. 27.)

Further on, the opinion elaborated: "[E]ven if a defendant negligently exposes a smoker to toxins that significantly increase the smoker's risk of cancer, that defendant is not liable for reasonably certain future medical monitoring costs unless the recommended monitoring calls for tests or examinations that are in addition to or different from the type of monitoring that the smoker should prudently undertake regardless of the subsequent toxic exposure. However, if additional or different tests and examinations are necessitated as a result of the toxic exposure caused by the defendant, then the defendant bears full responsibility for their costs. The costs of additional or different monitoring made necessary by the defendant's conduct should not have to be shared by the plaintiff since the plaintiff already remains responsible for any monitoring that is shown to be medically advisable due solely to his or her smoking or other preexisting condition." (Potter, supra, 6 Cal.4th at p. 1012, fn. 31.)

(1c) The standard instruction — BAJI No. 14.10.1 — gave no guidance on preexisting conditions. Cassiar specially proposed a modification which would have added the Potter guidance, but Gutierrez vigorously opposed it as argumentative, "hopelessly confusing," and unsupported. In arguing lack of support, Gutierrez evidently meant that the evidence had shown asbestos exposure to be a concurrent or even independent cause of the need for medical monitoring, and that Cassiar had not established otherwise. The court heard lengthy debate and, while stating agreement in principle with *154 Cassiar's reading of Potter, said in the end it was wary of "getting into uncharted water," denied the modification and ruled to "leave it for argument." The court also denied a new trial motion later brought by Cassiar in part over this refusal.[1]

Against this common backdrop, Cassiar raises two contentions. First, there is insufficient evidence to support the monitoring costs since Gutierrez failed in his burden under Potter to show a need for additional or different monitoring.

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Bluebook (online)
64 Cal. App. 4th 148, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gutierrez-v-cassiar-mining-corp-calctapp-1998.