Does ‘Asbestos Law’ Dismissal Requirement Apply to Non-Asbestos Claims Asserted in Same Lawsuit?
When Multiple-Claim Action Brought Under Federal Employers’ Liability Act Jack E. Riedel, Danny R. Six, Josephine Weldy v. Consolidated Rail Corporation et al., Case no. 2009-1070 8th District Court of Appeals (Cuyahoga County) ISSUE: When a civil suit claiming both asbestos-related and non-asbestos related injuries is brought by current or former railroad workers under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), and the trial court finds that the plaintiffs have not made a prima facie showing of current asbestos-related disease, does the provision of Ohio’s “asbestos law’ requiring administrative dismissal of the asbestos-related claim also require dismissal of the plaintiffs’ other claims, or may the asbestos-related claim be severed and the plaintiffs’ remaining claims proceed to trial? BACKGROUND: Since the enactment of H.B. 292, which became effective in September 2004, all plaintiffs bringing asbestos-related lawsuits in Ohio trial courts are required to produce a preliminary me
