Calif. Appellate Court Reverses Award of Summary Judgment to U.S. Steel in Benzene Case

SAN FRANCISCO –– A California appellate court has reversed an award of summary judgment to U.S. Steel in a benzene exposure suit, finding that the defendant had not presented evidence that would negate the existence of a design defect.

In the Sept. 1 opinion, the California First District Court of Appeal, Division Three, wrote that defendant U.S. Steel had failed to present evidence that Radiator “added any chemical or did anything in formulating or packaging Liquid Wrench that increased the toxicity or danger of the final product.”

“We agree with the trial court that the supplier of a raw material …