Pa. Court Upholds Asbestos Verdict against Lincoln Electric, Rejects Challenges to ‘Any-Exposure’ Testimony

PHILADELPHIA –– A Pennsylvania appellate court has affirmed a nearly $1 million verdict, ruling that “any- exposure” expert testimony was admissible because it was relevant to the alleged exposure to defendant Lincoln Electric’s (NASDAQ:LECO) asbestos-containing welding rods.

In the Feb. 14 ruling, the Pennsylvania Superior Court declined to apply reasoning expressed in the state Supreme Court’s 2012 Betz opinion, concluding that that opinion only addressed situations where “any-exposure” testimony stood without the support of the plaintiff’s full history of exposure.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Robert F. Wolfinger, who was allegedly exposed to asbestos-containing products manufactured by …