Not The Original Gasket? Not My Liability!

In a recent opinion, the California Court of Appeals for the Second District granted a gauge manufacturer's summary judgment motion on the basis that a defendant cannot be held liable for products it did not manufacturer or supply. (Lee v. Clark Reliance Corp., No. B241656 (Calif. 2nd Dist. Ct. App., Div. 3).

In Lee v. Clark Reliance Corp., No. B241656 (Calif. 2nd Dist. Ct. App., Div. 3) (Lee), plaintiff alleged that her husband, decedent Richard Lee, developed mesothelioma as a result of occupational exposure to asbestos while serving in the U.S. Navy. Decedent removed and replaced gaskets on boiler sight-glass gauges manufactured by defendant Jerguson Gage & Valve Company ("Jerguson"). Clark Reliance Corporation ("Clark"), as successor-in-interest to Jerguson, filed a summary judgment motion based on lack of exposure and causation.

Clark argued that the Jerguson boiler sight-glass gauges were located in the sight glass outside of the boiler and based upon decedent's testimony, decedent never personally opened the sight glass gauge nor did he see anyone else do so in his presence. The only gaskets decedent testified working with were located outside of the sight glass. Additionally, Clark argued that even if plaintiff worked with the internal gaskets of these gauges, plaintiff's own expert testified that these internal gaskets would have been replaced many times prior to decedent arriving onboard the ship. Plaintiff's expert also testified that these replacement gaskets would have been purchased through a bulk supplier that the U.S. Navy had pre-approved. Therefore, the replacement gaskets were not manufactured by Clark. Accordingly, Clark argued since it was not the manufacturer of the replacement gaskets and there is no evidence that plaintiff worked with or around the internal gaskets, that summary judgment was appropriate. The trial court agreed and granted Clark's summary judgment motion.

Plaintiff's chief complaint on appeal was that since Clark did not produce its person most knowledgeable for a deposition until two days prior to the hearing of the summary judgment motion, the Court should have denied the summary judgment motion. However, the Court of Appeals properly stated that first, plaintiff's counsel did not request a continuance of the hearing of said motion, and second, even if the deposition proceeded in a timely fashion, plaintiff's counsel admitted at the hearing that Clark's person most knowledgeable had no substantive answers since their document retention policy failed to produce any responsive records. As such, the deposition testimony would not have negated Clark's contention that there was no exposure and no causation.

The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court decision and held that Clark was not liable to plaintiff since a "product manufacturer may not be liable in strict liability or negligence for injuries caused by another manufacturer's adjacent product or replacement part used in conjunction with defendants' product. (Lee, supra, at pp. 4917-18 citing Taylor v. Elliott Turbomachinery Co. Inc. (2009) 171 Cal.App.4th 564 (Taylor), and O'Neil v. Crane Co. (2012) 53 Cal.4th. 335 (O'Neil).) Applying, Taylor and O'Neil, the Court indicated that it was undisputed that any asbestos-containing component part associated with the Jerguson boiler sight-glass gauges were replaced by parts manufactured by other companies long before decedent began his service on the U.S. Navy ship. Accordingly, Clark could not be held liable for harm caused by another manufacturer's product.

Although the Lee opinion is unpublished in official reports and may not be cited or relied upon, it remains a useful source for defendant-manufacturers. Taylor and O'Neil, which the Court of Appeals in Lee relied upon, are published opinions which may be relied on by defendants intending to bring motions for summary judgment on the basis of causation in which another manufacturer's product, which was used in conjunction with defendant's product, was actually the cause of a plaintiff's alleged injuries.