N.Y. Court Dismisses Asbestos Cosmetic Talc Claims Against Imerys, Cyprus Amax

NEW YORK –– A New York court has awarded summary judgment to defendants Imerys Talc America Inc. and Cyprus Amax Minerals Co. in an asbestos cosmetic talcum powder exposure suit, saying that the companies were not liable as a successor to the suppliers of the raw talc.

In the July 3 order, the New York Supreme Court for New York County rejected the plaintiffs’ insistence that the defendants could be held liable under the state’s “de facto merger exception.”

The plaintiffs asserted the claims on behalf of Sandra Florence Cohen, contending that the former New York school teacher and …