Manufacturers Owe Duty if Product Maintenance Causes Asbestos Exposure

SEATTLE - An appellate court has affirmed summary judgment for a naval parts manufacturer on the ground of collateral estoppel but reversed judgment for four other manufacturers, stating that they owed a duty to warn because their products contained or were used in conjunction with asbestos. Braaten v. Saberhagen Holdings, et al., No. 57011-1-I (Wash. Ct. App., Div. 1).

In a Jan. 29 published opinion, the Washington Court of Appeals said that, contrary to the four manufacturers' framing of the issue, their duty was not to warn of dangers associated with a third-party's product (asbestos), but of dangerous aspects of …