In a 6-3 ruling on March 19, 2019, the United States Supreme Court held that, under maritime law, a product manufacturer has a duty to warn when its “bare metal” product requires incorporation of a part the manufacturer knows or has reason to know is likely to be dangerous, such as asbestos-containing components.
In Air & Liquid Systems Corp., et al. v. DeVries, No. 17-1104, 586 U.S. ___ (2019), the Supreme Court examined the scope of a manufacturer’s duty to warn of the dangers of asbestos when its own bare metal products are later combined with asbestos-containing parts that the manufacturer did not make or sell. Plaintiffs Kenneth McAfee and John DeVries (“Plaintiffs”) filed suit in state court against a number of product manufacturers alleging that they developed cancer as a result of exposure to asbestos-containing equipment, including pumps, blowers, and turbines manufactured by the defendants, while serving on U.S. Navy vessels.[1] Plaintiffs asserted, inter alia, that defendants were negligent in failing to adequately warn of the dangers associated with the use of their equipment, even though the defendant-manufacturers of the equipment at issue did not always incorporate asbestos into their products and instead delivered much of the equipment to the Navy without asbestos, in a condition known as “bare metal.” Defendants removed to federal district court under maritime jurisdiction and subsequently moved for summary judgment based on the “bare-metal defense.” The District Court granted the motions for summary judgment, and Plaintiffs appealed. The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated and remanded, holding that “a manufacturer of a bare-metal product may be held liable for a plaintiff’s injuries suffered from later-added asbestos-containing materials” if the manufacturer could foresee that its product would be used with later-added asbestos-containing parts. In re Asbestos. Prods. Litig., 873 F.3d 232, 240 (3d Cir. 2017). The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve inconsistency among the Courts of Appeals regarding the validity and application of the bare-metal defense under maritime law.
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