Michigan: Supreme Court Rejects Liability for Secondhand Asbestos Exposure

In a case in which NAMIC participated as amicus curiae with a group of interested organizations, the Michigan Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the defendant, Ford Motor Company, the party supported by NAMIC.

In re Certified Question (Miller v. Ford Motor Company), No. 131517, handed down July 25, arose from a suit filed in Texas against Ford Motor Company, alleging that decedent Carolyn Miller contracted mesothelioma from washing the work clothes of her stepfather who worked for the independent contractors hired by the defendant to reline the interior of blast furnaces with materials that contained asbestos.

A jury found in favor of the plaintiffs. The District Court of Appeals of Texas certified this question to the Michigan Supreme Court:

Whether, under Michigan law, Ford, as owner of the property on which asbestos-containing products were located, owed to Carolyn Miller, who was never on or near that property, a legal duty specified in the jury charge submitted to the trial court, to protect her from exposure to any asbestos fibers carried home on the clothing of a member of Carolyn Miller’s household who was working on that property as the employee of an independent contractor.

In their amicus brief, NAMIC, Coalition for Litigation Justice, Inc., Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, and others stressed that landowners owe no duty to remote plaintiffs injured off-site through secondary exposure to hazards on the property. The amici pointed out that no relationship existed between plaintiff and defendant, that liability must be foreseeable, and that plaintiffs’ broad new duty rule proposed to be imposed on landowners would be unsound.

In a 4-3 decision, the Michigan Supreme Court held that Ford, as owner of the property, did not owe the decedent, who was never on or near the property, a legal duty to protect her from exposure to asbestos carried home by a member of her household, where there was no further relationship between Ford and Miller. The certified question having been answered in the negative, the matter was returned to the Texas Court of Appeals for further proceedings.

Direct questions to NAMIC's Regulatory Affairs Counsel Marsha Harrison.

Posted: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 12:00:00 AM. Modified: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 1:04:54 PM.

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