SMITH v. SCHLAGE LOCK COMPANY, LLC

No. 19-1391.

986 F.3d 482 (2021)

Dorothy E. SMITH, Individually and as Executrix of the Estate of Julian Jackson Smith, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SCHLAGE LOCK COMPANY, LLC, Defendant-Appellee, and AMTETEK, Inc., sued individually and as successor-in-interest to Haveg Industries, Inc.; successor-in-interest to Hercules, Inc.; AstenJohnson, Inc., f/k/a The Asten Group; Bechtel Corporation; Caterpillar, INC.; CBS Corporation, f/k/a Viacom, Inc., sued as successor-by-merger to CBS Corporation f/k/a Westinghouse Electric Corporation and as successor-in-interest to Haveg Industries, Inc.; Champion International Corporation; Champlain Cable Corporation, f/k/a Hercules, Inc., and as successor-in-interest to Haveg Industries, Inc.; Colgate-Palmolive Company; Cummins Power Generation, Inc., d/b/a Cummins Onan; Fisher Controls International, LLC; Flowserve Corporation, f/k/a The Duron Company, Inc., sued as successor-by-merger to Durco International and also sued as successor-in-interest to Anchor Darling Valves f/k/a Darling Manufacturing; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; General Electric Company; The Gorman-Rupp Company; Goulds Pumps, Inc.; Grinnell, LLC, d/b/a Grinnell Corp.; Hercules, Inc.; Honeywell International, Inc., f/k/a Allied-Signal, Inc., sued as successor-in-interest to Bendix Corporation; International Paper Company; The Nash Engineering Company; Riley Power, Inc., f/k/a Riley Stoker Corporation, f/k/a D.B. Riley, Inc.; Sequoia Ventures, Inc., f/k/a Bechtel Corporation; Warren Pumps, LLC; Western Auto Supply, d/b/a Advance Auto Parts; Weyerhaeuser Company; The William Powell Company; Scott Co. of California; Tompkins-Beckwith, Inc.; International Business Machines Corporation, d/b/a IBM; Weatherly, Inc., sued as successor-in-interest to D.M. Weatherly; Farmers Chemical Association, Inc.; The Rust Engineering Company; Briggs & Stratton Corporation; Textron, Inc., d/b/a Lycoming Engines; Davis-Standard Corporation; Andritz, Inc., f/k/a Ahlstrom Machinery, Inc., f/k/a Kamyr, Inc.; DeZURIK, Inc., d/b/a Dezurik-Apco Williametter Eagle, Inc.; Certainteed Corporation, Defendants.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Decided: January 27, 2021.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Lisa White Shirley , DEAN OMAR BRANHAM SHIRLEY LLP, Dallas, Texas; Janet Ward Black , WARD BLACK LAW, Greensboro, North Carolina, for Appellant. Michael W. Drumke , Catherine Basque Weiler , SWANSON, MARTIN & BELL, LLP, Chicago, Illinois, for Appellee.

Affirmed by published per curiam opinion.


In 2016, Julian Jackson Smith was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a form of cancer usually caused by asbestos exposure. He died from the illness the following year.

Before his death, Mr. Smith and his wife, Dorothy Smith, brought this action alleging that Schlage Lock Co. and dozens of other defendants may have exposed Mr.

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