Wash. Court Dismisses Remaining Asbestos Shipyard Exposure Claims Asserted Against U.S.

SEATTLE –– A Washington federal court has dismissed the remaining asbestos claims asserted against the United States in a shipyard exposure case, finding that the evidence used to support the post-1970 exposure claims was speculative.

The Dec. 20 decision from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington comes four months after the District Court dismissed the pre-1970 claims on grounds that they were precluded by the discretionary function exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act. In that decision, the District Court called the post-1970 claims “questionable,” and only denied the United States’ motion to dismiss the post-1970 …