DE Sup Ct: Asbestos Distributor Duty to Workers

The Delaware Supreme Court recently ruled that a distributor of an asbestos product had a duty to warn its customer's employees of the hazards involved and couldn't avoid liability by invoking the "supplier" defense. In In Re Asbestos Litigation (No. 704, 2002, 09/15/03) plaintiffs in this consolidated case were allegedly injured from exposure to asbestos while working at a DuPont chemical plant in Seaford, Delaware, where short-fibre asbestos was used as a sweeping compound to absorb spills on the plant floor. DuPont purchased the asbestos from the defendant, Charles A. Wagner Co., Inc. (...