Norma Marcella, et al. v. Huntington Ingalls Inc., et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana grants plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment in an asbestos-exposure personal injury case. The court holds that Huntington Ingalls Incorporated, formerly Avondale, may not invoke Boyle government-contractor immunity or Yearsley derivative sovereign immunity against state-law claims based on alleged failure to warn employees about asbestos dangers or failure to prevent the spread of asbestos dust at the shipyard from 1962 to 1964. The ruling does not apply to dismissed para-occupational exposure claims.

Holdings

1. Huntington Ingalls Incorporated may not use the Boyle government-contractor-immunity defense or the Yearsley derivative-sovereign-immunity defense against plaintiffs' state-law claims alleging that it failed to warn employees of asbestos dangers and failed to take precautions to prevent asbestos dust from spreading at the Avondale shipyard during Marcella's employment and exposure from 1962 to 1964.
2. Summary judgment must be granted when, after adequate discovery, the record shows no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law; conclusory or unsupported assertions do not create a genuine dispute.

Questions Presented

1. Whether plaintiffs were entitled to partial summary judgment on Huntington Ingalls Incorporated's Boyle government-contractor-immunity defense as applied to state-law claims alleging failure to warn employees about asbestos dangers and failure to take precautions against the spread of asbestos dust.
2. Whether plaintiffs were entitled to partial summary judgment on Huntington Ingalls Incorporated's Yearsley derivative-sovereign-immunity defense as applied to the same specified state-law claims.
3. Whether the record established that no genuine dispute of material fact prevented summary judgment on those immunity defenses.

Disposition

other