La. Court Retains Jurisdiction of Asbestos Case Against Huntington Ingalls

NEW ORLEANS –– A Louisiana federal court has retained jurisdiction of an asbestos lawsuit, concluding that the defendants were only required to show that Avondale’s use of asbestos was under the direction of a federal officer, not whether it also complied with relevant state and federal safety requirements.

In the March 16 order, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana opined that requiring “every defendant removing pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1442 to prove compliance with all applicable federal and state safety requirements would require them to ‘win [their] case before [they] can have it removed….’”

Plaintiff …