Halphen v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp., JOHNS-MANVILLE
| Decision Date | 06 March 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 82-3388,JOHNS-MANVILLE,82-3388 |
| Citation | 755 F.2d 393 |
| Parties | Emma Jean HALPHEN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v.SALES CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Strong, Pipkin, Nelson, Parker & Bissell, John G. Bissell, Michael L. Baker, Beaumont, Tex., for defendant-appellant.
Kermit A. Doucet, Lafayette, La., Helm, Pletcher, Hogan & Burrow, Stephen W. Hanks, Houston, Tex., for plaintiff-appellee.
Robert S. Rooth, New Orleans, La., for Owens-Illinois, Inc., amicus curiae.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.
Before CLARK, Chief Judge, GEE, RUBIN, REAVLEY, POLITZ, RANDALL, TATE, JOHNSON, WILLIAMS, GARWOOD, JOLLY, HIGGINBOTHAM, DAVIS and HILL, Circuit Judges.
In view of the transcending importance of the resolution of the principal issue presented in this diversity case, acting en banc this court determined to certify an inquiry to the Supreme Court of Louisiana pursuant to its Rule XII. Halphen v. Johns-Manville Sales Corporation, 752 F.2d 124 (5th Cir.1985).
It appears to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that this case involves a question of Louisiana law for which we find neither clear, dispositive statutory provision nor precedent in the decisions of the Supreme Court of Louisiana. As we earlier concluded, resolution of this issue will affect a large number of people and have a potentially enormous economic impact, Id. at 125.
The certified case is Mrs. Emma Jean Halphen, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Johns-Manville Sales Corporation, Defendant-Appellant, number 82-3388 on the docket of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and is an appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.
This is a strict products liability action for damages from wrongful death between Emma Jean Halphen, Plaintiff, and Johns-Manville Sales Corporation, Defendant, which was tried in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in Lake Charles, in January, 1982.
Plaintiff's husband, Samuel Halphen, died during the pendency of the lawsuit from a malignant pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung. Plaintiff alleged that her husband had been exposed to asbestos-containing products sold by Johns-Manville, while working at a shipyard in Orange, Texas in 1945, and at various times during his career as a serviceman in the Air Force.
The jury found that there was a Johns-Manville product involved which was unreasonably...
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Halphen v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp.
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