Ga. High Court: Employer Owes No Duty to Third Party Alleging Non-Workplace Exposures

ATLANTA -- Georgia's highest court has held that the state's negligence law does not impose a duty on an employer to a third-party who allegedly came into contact with asbestos through an employee's work clothing. CSX Transportation v. Williams; CSX Transportation v. Leverett, No. S04Q1573, S04Q1574 (Ga. Sup. Ct.).

In a Jan. 24 opinion, the Georgia Supreme Court relied on New York case law in determining that CSX Transportation did not owe four third-party plaintiffs a duty under negligence law, when their exposure occurred outside of the employees' workplace.

'The employer's duty to provide a safe workplace is not to …