N.Y. Court Awards Clubman Talc Defendant Summary Judgment on Punitive Damages

NEW YORK –– A New York Supreme Court has awarded summary judgment on the issue of punitive damages in an asbestos-containing talcum powder lawsuit but has denied the defendant’s efforts to obtain the same on the issue of causation.

In the Dec. 6 order, the New York Supreme Court for New York County did agree with the defendant that it had no reason to believe that its talc was contaminated with asbestos until litigation started against the company in the 2000s and, as such, the claim for punitive damages could not proceed.

“In fact,” the court noted, “Defendant had reason …