Morales v. Amchem Prods., Inc.

2025 NY Slip Op 31396(U)
CourtNew York Supreme Court, New York County
DecidedApril 21, 2025
DocketIndex No. 190253/2022
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2025 NY Slip Op 31396(U) (Morales v. Amchem Prods., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court, New York County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morales v. Amchem Prods., Inc., 2025 NY Slip Op 31396(U) (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2025).

Opinion

Morales v Amchem Prods., Inc. 2025 NY Slip Op 31396(U) April 21, 2025 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: Index No. 190253/2022 Judge: Judy H. Kim Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip Op 30001(U), are republished from various New York State and local government sources, including the New York State Unified Court System's eCourts Service. This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official publication. INDEX NO. 190253/2022 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 374 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/21/2025

$$$$ SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK NEW YORK COUNTY PRESENT: HON. JUDY H. KIM PART 04 Justice ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X

BELISARIO CAMARGO MORALES, LEYDI CAMARGO, INDEX NO. 190253/2022

Plaintiffs,

-v- TRIAL DECISION & ORDER AMCHEM PRODUCTS, INC., et al,

Defendants. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ X

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document numbers 290-321 and 328-363, were read on the parties’ respective motions in limine to preclude the introduction of certain evidence at trial.

As directed by the Court at the April 7, 2025 pre-trial conference, the parties submitted

motions in limine by April 9, 2025 and submitted responses to opposing counsel’s in limine

applications on April 10, 2025. The motions are addressed as follows:

Plaintiffs’ Motion in Limine

Plaintiffs’ motion to preclude defendants from questioning plaintiffs’ causation experts as

to whether other products, entities, or settled parties caused Morales’s mesothelioma is denied

without prejudice. Whether such questioning is permissible will depend on whether defendants

have laid a foundation to establish specific causation against any nonparty or settled party

tortfeasors such that fault could be apportioned to such other entities (see In re New York City

Asbestos Litig. (Idell), 164 AD3d 1128, 1129 [1st Dept 2018]; see also Seen v Kaiser Gypsum Co.,

Inc., 2023 NY Slip Op 30794[U], 6 [Sup Ct, NY County 2023] aff’d as mod 2024 NY Slip Op.

02788 [1st Dept 2024]).

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Defendants’ Motions in Limine

Each defendant has adopted the motions of their co-defendants as their own. Accordingly,

the motions are addressed as “defendants’ motions,” except where the relief sought is specific to

one defendant.

The following motions are GRANTED:

Defendants’ motion to compel plaintiffs to produce their Trial Exhibit List to all defendants

is granted. Contrary to plaintiffs’ position, “CPLR §2103(e) requires plaintiffs to serve

[defendants] with all documents plaintiffs have served on other parties in the action” (Trumbull v

Adience, Inc. 2018 NY Slip Op 31669(U), 3 [Sup Ct, NY County 2018]). Accordingly, plaintiffs

shall serve on each defendant their Trial Exhibit List in its entirety on or before Monday, April

28, 2025.

Defendants’ motion to preclude evidence of a defendant’s financial condition is granted as

irrelevant and potentially prejudicial. Defendants’ motion to preclude plaintiff from referencing a

defendant’s insurance or lack thereof is granted for the same reasons (see Butigian v Port Auth. of

NY & NJ, 293 AD2d 251 [1st Dept 2002]).

Defendants’ motion to preclude plaintiff from referencing other pending actions in which

any of the defendants is involved is granted. At present, there is no basis to conclude that this

information has any relevance to this action.

Defendants’ motion to preclude plaintiffs from making statements that the remaining

defendants refused to “pay their fair share” is granted.

Defendants’ motion to preclude the testimony of non-parties as to the emotional distress

these non-parties experienced as a result of plaintiff’s mesothelioma diagnosis is granted.

2 of 9 Page 2 of 9 [* 2] 190253/2022 CAMARGO MORALES, BELISARIO ET AL vs. AMCHEM PRODUCTS, INC., N/K/A RHONE POULENC AG COMPANY, N/K/A INDEX NO. 190253/2022 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 374 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/21/2025

The following motions are DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE to each defendant raising specific objections at trial as appropriate:

Defendant Superior Boiler Works, Inc.’s (“Superior Boiler”) motion to preclude plaintiffs

from asserting that Superior Boiler was the manufacturer of the boiler at issue is denied. Whether

Superior Boiler manufactured the boiler in question is an issue of fact to be resolved at trial (see

Casalini v Alexander Wolf & Son, 157 AD3d 528, 530 [1st Dept 2018] [“an issue of material fact

cannot form the basis for granting a motion in limine because it is an “inappropriate device to

obtain [summary] relief”]).

Defendants’ motion to permit the introduction of any settled defendant’s answers to

interrogatories and deposition testimony is denied. “CPLR 3117(a)(2) does not extend to the

interrogatory answers or corporate representative depositions of defendants who have settled or

who have gone bankrupt” (New York City Asbestos Litig., 2017 NY Slip Op 30005[U], 21-23 [Sup

Ct, NY County 2017]).

Defendants’ motion to preclude causation testimony from Kenneth Garza and Dr. Mark

Ginsburg is denied. Their reports establish a sufficient basis for their anticipated testimony at trial

and, in any event, these doctors will “presumably expand on their reports” (see In re New York

City Asbestos Litigation., 2017 NY Slip Op 30756[U], 6-7 {Sup Ct., NY County 2017]). Nor is a

Frye hearing warranted on this issue (see Berger v Amchem Products, 13 Misc 3d 335, 344 [Sup

Ct, NY County 2006]). To the extent defendants assert that the testimony of these witnesses will

be insufficient to establish plaintiffs’ prima facie case, this is an argument for summary judgment

or a directed verdict rather than a motion in limine (see Matter of New York City Asbestos Litig.,

2025 NY Slip Op 01425 [1st Dept 2025]; see also In re New York City Asbestos Litigation (Evans),

2017 NY Slip Op 30756[U], 6-7 [Sup Ct, NY County 2017]).

3 of 9 Page 3 of 9 [* 3] 190253/2022 CAMARGO MORALES, BELISARIO ET AL vs. AMCHEM PRODUCTS, INC., N/K/A RHONE POULENC AG COMPANY, N/K/A INDEX NO. 190253/2022 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 374 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/21/2025

Defendants’ motion to preclude testimony that there is “no safe level” of asbestos exposure

is denied (see New York City Asbestos Litig. (Evans), 2017 NY Slip Op 30658[U], 4 [Sup Ct, NY

County 2017]) as is defendants’ motion to preclude plaintiffs’ experts from testifying as to the

concept of “individual susceptibility” (see Lugo v New York City Health and Hosps. Corp., 89

AD3d 42, 48 [2d Dept 2011]).

Defendants’ motion to preclude plaintiffs’ “state-of-the-art” witnesses—i.e., doctors

Castleman, Rosner, and Markowitz—is denied. These witnesses have “specialized knowledge

which may assist the trier of fact,” have “digested decades of work in the field,” and “testified in

numerous NYCAL cases” (New York City Asbestos Litig. (Andrews), 2017 NY Slip Op 30005[U],

18-19 [Sup Ct, NY County 2017]). Defendants’ motion to preclude case reports and case series

and testimony referencing same is also denied (see e.g. Konstantin v 630 Third Ave. Assoc., 37

Misc 3d 1206(A) [Sup Ct, NY County 2012] [“Dr. Markowitz … based his opinion linking

asbestos exposure to mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis on scholarly articles, including an

epidemiological study, case reports and other articles linking asbestos exposure”], affd sub nom.

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2025 NY Slip Op 31396(U), Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morales-v-amchem-prods-inc-nysupctnewyork-2025.