Peerman v. Georgia-Pacific Corp.

35 F.3d 284, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 24333, 1994 WL 482617
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedSeptember 8, 1994
DocketNo. 93-3501
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 35 F.3d 284 (Peerman v. Georgia-Pacific Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Peerman v. Georgia-Pacific Corp., 35 F.3d 284, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 24333, 1994 WL 482617 (7th Cir. 1994).

Opinion

COFFEY, Circuit Judge.

Patricia Peerman filed this wrongful death action alleging that her husband, Gerald Peerman, died from an illness caused by exposure to airborne asbestos from products manufactured and sold by Georgia-Pacific Corporation and Turner & Newall, pic (now known as T & N pic). Federal jurisdiction is based on diversity of citizenship. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a). The district court granted summary judgment to Georgia-Pacific and T & N. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

Gerald Peerman was employed by Babcock & Wilcox (B & W) at its Mt. Vernon, Indiana, plant from 1963 to 1982. The plant, a facility for the manufacture of parts and sub-assemblies for large utility boilers, consisted of several buildings and covered about 99 acres. During the majority of his employment with B & W, Mr. Peerman worked in the shipping and receiving department, where he was responsible for loading and unloading products shipped to and from the plant as well as transporting products within the plant. Mr. Peerman also worked as a supervisor in the shipping and receiving department, in which capacity he traveled throughout the plant as needed. During his tenure at the Mt. Vernon plant, Mr. Peerman might have been exposed to asbestos dust.

Masses of asbestos fibers, when disturbed, tend to break down into tiny dust particles which become suspended in the air. Knowledge of the dangers of inhaling and ingesting asbestos dust dates back at least to the First Century. Barry I. Castleman, M.D., Asbestos: Medical and Legal Aspects 1 (3d ed. 1990). In recent times, it has been documented that the disabilities associated with the inhalation and ingestion of asbestos dust manifest themselves primarily in three diseases: asbestosis, pulmonary and broncho-genic carcinoma, and mesothelioma. Asbestosis, the earliest known and most common asbestos-related disease, manifests itself 10 to 40 years after exposure to significant quantities of asbestos. Inhalation of asbestos particles initiates a scarring process that destroys air sacs in healthy lung tissue; and this, in turn, results in a decrease in pulmonary function and lung volume. Gray’s Attorneys’ Textbook of Medicine ¶ 205C.11(1) (3d ed. 1980). Pulmonary and bronchogenic carcinoma is the uncontrolled multiplication of epithelial cells in the lungs. It does not generally manifest itself until at least 15 years after the initial exposure to asbestos. Id. ¶ 205C.71. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer of the membrane lining the lungs, chest cavity, and abdominal cavity. It may take 30 to 35 years for mesothelioma to manifest itself, but the disease is invariably fatal. Id. ¶ 205C.72.

In December 1985, three years after he left B & W, Mr. Peerman died of malignant mesothelioma. Mrs. Peerman alleges in her suit that, in the course of his duties at the Mt. Vernon plant, Mr. Peerman was exposed to asbestos dust from the defendants’ asbestos-containing products and that this caused him to develop mesothelioma.

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Peerman v. Georgia-Pacific
35 F.3d 284 (Seventh Circuit, 1994)

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Bluebook (online)
35 F.3d 284, 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS 24333, 1994 WL 482617, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peerman-v-georgia-pacific-corp-ca7-1994.