Mertz v. 999 QUEBEC, INC.

• Decision Date: 24 March 2010
• Docket Number: No. 20090031.,20090031.
• Citation: 2010 ND 51,780 N.W.2d 446
• Parties: Shirley MERTZ, Plaintiff and Appellant v. 999 QUEBEC, INC. (f/k/a International Boiler Works Company), a Delaware corporation; A.H. Bennett Company, a Minnesota corporation; A.O. Smith Corporation, a Delaware corporation; A.W. Chesterton Company, a Massachusetts corporation; Airco, Inc., a Delaware corporation; American Standard, Inc., a Delaware corporation; Anchor Packing Company, a Delaware corporation; Apollo Piping & Supply, an Illinois corporation; Asbestos Corporation, Ltd., a Canadian corporation; Atlas Turner, Inc., a Canadian corporation; Australian Blue Asbestos, Pty., an Australian corporation; Bell & Gossett, a foreign corporation; Bell Asbestos Mines, Ltd., a Canadian corporation; Bryan Steam Corporation, an Indiana corporation; Building Sprinkler Company, Inc., a North Dakota corporation; Burnham Corporation, a Pennsylvania corporation; CBS Corporation (f/k/a Westinghouse Electric Corporation), a Pennsylvania corporation; Carborundum Abrasives Company, a Delaware corporation; Carborundum Company, a Delaware corporation; Certain-Teed Corporation, a Maryland corporation; Chicago-Wilcox Manufacturing Company, an Illinois corporation; Chromalox (a division of Emerson Electric Co.), a Missouri corporation; Cleaver-Brooks, Division of Aqua-Chem, Inc., a Delaware corporation; Crane Company, a Delaware corporation; Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc., a New York corporation (individually and as successor-in-interest to Mundet Cork Corporation); CSR, Ltd. a/k/a Colonial Sugar Refining Company, Ltd., an Australian corporation, individually and as an alter-ego of Australian Blue Asbestos, Pty.; Dakota Welding Supply, a foreign corporation; Deltak, L.L.C., a Unit of Jason, Inc., a Minnesota corporation; Detroit Stoker, a Michigan corporation; Draxton Sales, a Minnesota corporation; Durabla Manufacturing Company, a Pennsylvania corporation; E.J. Lavino and Company, Inc., a Delaware corporation; F.R.P. Products, Ltd., a foreign corporation; F & C Supply, Inc., a North Dakota corporation; Fargo-Moorhead Insulation Company, a North Dakota corporation; Firebrick Supply Co., a Minnesota corporation; Foster Products Corporation, a Minnesota corporation (as successor-in-interest to Foster Products Division of H.B. Fuller Company and to the Benjamin Foster Division of AmChem Products, Inc.); Foster Wheeler Corporation, a New York corporation; Garlock, Inc., an Ohio corporation; General Electric Company, a foreign business corporation organized under the laws of New York; Georgia-Pacific Corp., a Georgia corporation; Goodrich Corporation, a New York corporation, (f/k/a B.F. Goodrich Company); Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, an Ohio corporation; Goulds Pumps, Inc., a New York corporation; Greene, Tweed & Co., a Pennsylvania corporation; Guard-Line, Inc., a Texas corporation; H.B. Fuller. Co., a Minnesota corporation; H.H. Robertson Company, a Pennsylvania corporation; Henry Vogt Machine Company, a Kentucky corporation; Hercules Chemical Company, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; Hickory Insulation Co., a foreign corporation; Hobart Brothers Co., an Ohio corporation; Honeywell, Inc., a Delaware corporation; Hydrotherm, Inc., a California corporation; Inductotherm Industries, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company, a New Jersey corporation; Insulation Services, Inc., a Louisiana corporation; International Vermiculite Co., an Illinois corporation; J.H. France Refractories Company, a Pennsylvania corporation; The Jamar Company, a Minnesota corporation (individually and as successor-in-interest and liability to the Walker Jamar Company, a former Minnesota corporation); John Crane, Inc., a Delaware corporation (successor-in-interest to John Crane-Houdaille, Inc. and Crane Packing Company); Johnston Boiler Co., a Michigan corporation; Kelsey-Hayes Group (a division of Varity Corporation), a Delaware corporation; Kewanee Boiler Corporation (n/k/a OakFabCo, Inc.), an Illinois corporation; Lincoln Electric Co., an Ohio corporation; Lochinvar, a Tennessee corporation; Mauritzon, Inc., a foreign corporation; McMaster Carr Supply Company, an Illinois corporation; Mellema Company, a Minnesota corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, a foreign corporation; Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing, a Delaware corporation; Murray Iron Works Company, a foreign corporation; Northern Plumbing & Heating, Inc., a North Dakota corporation; Northern Plumbing Supply, Inc., a North Dakota corporation; Norton Company, a Delaware corporation, individually and as successor by merger with Carborundum Abrasives Company; Owens-Illinois, Inc., an Ohio corporation; The P.R. Sussman Company, an Ohio corporation, as successor to The Sussman Asbestos Company; Parker Boiler Co., a California corporation; Paul A. Douden, a Colorado corporation; Paul W. Abbott, a foreign corporation; The Peerless Heater Company, Division of Peerless Industries, Inc., a foreign corporation; Power Process Equipment, Inc., a Minnesota corporation; Praxair Distribution, Inc., a foreign corporation; Rapid-American Corporation, a Delaware corporation; Research Cottrell, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; Rheem Manufacturing Company, a Delaware corporation; Rhone-Poulenc, Inc., a New York corporation (as successor-in-interest to Benjamin Foster, a division of AmChem Products Company); Riley Stoker Corporation, a foreign business corporation organized under the laws of Mississippi; Rite-Hite Corporation, a Wisconsin corporation; Ruud Manufacturing Company, a foreign corporation; S.O.S. Products Company, Inc., a New York corporation; SEPCO Corporation, an Alabama corporation; Singer Safety Company, an Illinois corporation; Smith-Sharpe Company, a Minnesota corporation; Sprinkmann Sons Corporation, a Wisconsin corporation; Sprinkmann Sons Corporation of Illinois, an Illinois corporation; Superior Boiler Works, Inc., a Kansas corporation; Sussman Electric Boilers, a New York corporation; The Trane Co., a New York corporation, (a division of American Standard, Inc.); Union Boiler Co., a Delaware corporation; Union Carbide Corporation, a Delaware corporation; Uniroyal, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; United Conveyor Corporation, an Illinois corporation; Victor H. Leeby Company, a North Dakota corporation; Walker Jamar Company, a Minnesota corporation; Water Applications & Systems Corporation, (f/k/a United States Filter Corporation), a foreign corporation; Weil McLain Company, a Delaware corporation; Whittier Filtration, Inc., (f/k/a U.S. Filter/Whittier, Inc.), a subsidiary of Water Applications & Systems Corporation, a foreign corporation; Zurn Industries, Inc., a Pennsylvania corporation, Defendants. A.H. Bennett Company, a Minnesota corporation; Crane Company, a Delaware corporation; A.O. Smith Corporation, a Delaware corporation; Bryan Steam Corporation, an Indiana corporation; Burnham Corporation, a Pennsylvania corporation; Certain-Teed Corporation, a Maryland corporation; Chromalox (a division of Emerson Electric Co.), a Missouri corporation; Cleaver-Brooks, Division of Aqua-Chem, Inc., a Delaware corporation; Crane Company, a Delaware corporation; Detroit Stoker, a Michigan corporation; Foster Products Corporation, a Minnesota corporation (as successor-in-interest to Foster Products Division of H.B. Fuller Company and to Benjamin Foster Division of AmChem Products, Inc.); Foster Wheeler Corporation, a New York corporation; L.L.C.; Goulds Pumps, Inc., a New York corporation; Greene, Tweed & Co., a Pennsylvania corporation; Guard-Line, Inc., a Texas corporation; Inductotherm Industries, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; Industrial Holdings Corporation, f/k/a The Carborundum Company; Ingersoll-Rand Company, a New Jersey corporation; ITT Corporation, f/k/a Bell & Gossett, a foreign corporation; Fargo-Moorhead Insulation Company, a North Dakota corporation; Goodrich Corporation, a New York corporation (f/k/a B.F. Goodrich Company); Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, an Ohio corporation; Kelsey-Hayes Group (a division of Varity Corporation), a Delaware corporation; Mauritzon, Inc., a foreign corporation; McMaster Carr Supply Company, an Illinois corporation; The Peerless Heater Company, Division of Peerless Industries, Inc., a foreign corporation; Riley Stoker Corporation, a foreign business corporation organized under the laws of Mississippi; Rite-Hite Corporation, a Wisconsin corporation; Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Inc. (f/k/a Norton Company, a Delaware corporation, individually and as successor by merger with Carborundum Abrasives Company); Singer Safety Company, an Illinois corporation; Smith-Sharpe Company, a Minnesota corporation; S.O.S. Products Company, Inc., a New York corporation; Sprinkmann Sons Corporation of Illinois, an Illinois corporation; Superior Boiler Works, Inc., a Kansas corporation; Sussman Electric Boilers, a New York corporation; The Trane Co., a New York corporation, (a division of American Standard, Inc.); Union Carbide Corporation, a Delaware corporation; Uniroyal, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; United Conveyor Corporation, an Illinois corporation; and Weil-McLain Company, a Delaware corporation; Defendants and Appellees.
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

780 N.W.2d 446

2010 ND 51

Shirley MERTZ, Plaintiff and Appellant v. 999 QUEBEC, INC. (f/k/a International Boiler Works Company), a Delaware corporation; A.H. Bennett Company, a Minnesota corporation; A.O. Smith Corporation, a Delaware corporation; A.W. Chesterton Company, a Massachusetts corporation; Airco, Inc., a Delaware corporation; American Standard, Inc., a Delaware corporation; Anchor Packing Company, a Delaware corporation; Apollo Piping & Supply, an Illinois corporation; Asbestos Corporation, Ltd., a Canadian corporation; Atlas Turner, Inc., a Canadian corporation; Australian Blue Asbestos, Pty., an Australian corporation; Bell & Gossett, a foreign corporation; Bell Asbestos Mines, Ltd., a Canadian corporation; Bryan Steam Corporation, an Indiana corporation; Building Sprinkler Company, Inc., a North Dakota corporation; Burnham

Corporation, a Pennsylvania corporation; CBS Corporation (f/k/a Westinghouse Electric Corporation), a Pennsylvania corporation; Carborundum Abrasives Company, a Delaware corporation; Carborundum Company, a Delaware corporation; Certain-Teed Corporation, a Maryland corporation; Chicago-Wilcox Manufacturing Company, an Illinois corporation; Chromalox (a division of Emerson Electric Co.), a Missouri corporation; Cleaver-Brooks, Division of Aqua-Chem, Inc., a Delaware corporation; Crane Company, a Delaware corporation; Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc., a New York corporation (individually and as successor-in-interest to Mundet Cork Corporation); CSR, Ltd. a/k/a Colonial Sugar Refining Company, Ltd., an Australian corporation, individually and as an alter-ego of Australian Blue Asbestos, Pty.; Dakota Welding Supply, a foreign corporation; Deltak, L.L.C., a Unit of Jason, Inc., a Minnesota corporation; Detroit Stoker, a Michigan corporation; Draxton Sales, a Minnesota corporation; Durabla Manufacturing Company, a Pennsylvania corporation; E.J. Lavino and Company, Inc., a Delaware corporation; F.R.P. Products, Ltd., a foreign corporation; F & C Supply, Inc., a North Dakota corporation; Fargo-Moorhead Insulation Company, a North Dakota corporation; Firebrick Supply Co., a Minnesota corporation; Foster Products Corporation, a Minnesota corporation (as successor-in-interest to Foster Products Division of H.B. Fuller Company and to the Benjamin Foster Division of AmChem Products, Inc.); Foster Wheeler Corporation, a New York corporation; Garlock, Inc., an Ohio corporation; General Electric Company, a foreign business corporation organized under the laws of New York; Georgia-Pacific Corp., a Georgia corporation; Goodrich Corporation, a New York corporation, (f/k/a B.F. Goodrich Company); Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, an Ohio corporation; Goulds Pumps, Inc., a New York corporation; Greene, Tweed & Co., a Pennsylvania corporation; Guard-Line, Inc., a Texas corporation; H.B. Fuller. Co., a Minnesota corporation; H.H. Robertson Company, a Pennsylvania corporation; Henry Vogt Machine Company, a Kentucky corporation; Hercules Chemical Company, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; Hickory Insulation Co., a foreign corporation; Hobart Brothers Co., an Ohio corporation; Honeywell, Inc., a Delaware corporation; Hydrotherm, Inc., a California corporation; Inductotherm Industries, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; Ingersoll-Rand Company, a New Jersey corporation; Insulation Services, Inc., a Louisiana corporation; International Vermiculite Co., an Illinois corporation; J.H. France Refractories Company, a Pennsylvania corporation; The Jamar Company, a Minnesota corporation (individually and as successor-in-interest and liability to the Walker Jamar Company, a former Minnesota corporation); John Crane, Inc., a Delaware corporation (successor-in-interest to John Crane-Houdaille, Inc. and Crane Packing Company); Johnston Boiler Co., a Michigan corporation; Kelsey-Hayes Group (a division of Varity Corporation), a Delaware corporation; Kewanee Boiler Corporation (n/k/a OakFabCo, Inc.), an Illinois corporation; Lincoln Electric Co., an Ohio corporation; Lochinvar, a Tennessee corporation; Mauritzon, Inc., a foreign corporation; McMaster Carr Supply Company,

an Illinois corporation; Mellema Company, a Minnesota corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, a foreign corporation; Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing, a Delaware corporation; Murray Iron Works Company, a foreign corporation; Northern Plumbing & Heating, Inc., a North Dakota corporation; Northern Plumbing Supply, Inc., a North Dakota corporation; Norton Company, a Delaware corporation, individually and as successor by merger with Carborundum Abrasives Company; Owens-Illinois, Inc., an Ohio corporation; The P.R. Sussman Company, an Ohio corporation, as successor to The Sussman Asbestos Company; Parker Boiler Co., a California corporation; Paul A. Douden, a Colorado corporation; Paul W. Abbott, a foreign corporation; The Peerless Heater Company, Division of Peerless Industries, Inc., a foreign corporation; Power Process Equipment, Inc., a Minnesota corporation; Praxair Distribution, Inc., a foreign corporation; Rapid-American Corporation, a Delaware corporation; Research Cottrell, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; Rheem Manufacturing Company, a Delaware corporation; Rhone-Poulenc, Inc., a New York corporation (as successor-in-interest to Benjamin Foster, a division of AmChem Products Company); Riley Stoker Corporation, a foreign business corporation organized under the laws of Mississippi; Rite-Hite Corporation, a Wisconsin corporation; Ruud Manufacturing Company, a foreign corporation; S.O.S. Products Company, Inc., a New York corporation; SEPCO Corporation, an Alabama corporation; Singer Safety Company, an Illinois corporation; Smith-Sharpe Company, a Minnesota corporation; Sprinkmann Sons Corporation, a Wisconsin corporation; Sprinkmann Sons Corporation of Illinois, an Illinois corporation; Superior Boiler Works, Inc., a Kansas corporation; Sussman Electric Boilers, a New York corporation; The Trane Co., a New York corporation, (a division of American Standard, Inc.); Union Boiler Co., a Delaware corporation; Union Carbide Corporation, a Delaware corporation; Uniroyal, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; United Conveyor Corporation, an Illinois corporation; Victor H. Leeby Company, a North Dakota corporation; Walker Jamar Company, a Minnesota corporation; Water Applications & Systems Corporation, (f/k/a United States Filter Corporation), a foreign corporation; Weil McLain Company, a Delaware corporation; Whittier Filtration, Inc., (f/k/a U.S. Filter/Whittier, Inc.), a subsidiary of Water Applications & Systems Corporation, a foreign corporation; Zurn Industries, Inc., a Pennsylvania corporation, Defendants.

A.H. Bennett Company, a Minnesota corporation; Crane Company, a Delaware corporation; A.O. Smith Corporation, a Delaware corporation; Bryan Steam Corporation, an Indiana corporation; Burnham Corporation, a Pennsylvania corporation; Certain-Teed Corporation, a Maryland corporation; Chromalox (a division of Emerson Electric Co.), a Missouri corporation; Cleaver-Brooks, Division of Aqua-Chem, Inc., a Delaware corporation; Crane Company, a Delaware corporation; Detroit Stoker, a Michigan corporation; Foster Products Corporation, a Minnesota corporation (as successor-in-interest to Foster Products Division of H.B. Fuller Company and to Benjamin

Foster Division of AmChem Products, Inc.); Foster Wheeler Corporation, a New York corporation; L.L.C.; Goulds Pumps, Inc., a New York corporation; Greene, Tweed & Co., a Pennsylvania corporation; Guard-Line, Inc., a Texas corporation; Inductotherm Industries, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; Industrial Holdings Corporation, f/k/a The Carborundum Company; Ingersoll-Rand Company, a New Jersey corporation; ITT Corporation, f/k/a Bell & Gossett, a foreign corporation; Fargo-Moorhead Insulation Company, a North Dakota corporation; Goodrich Corporation, a New York corporation (f/k/a B.F. Goodrich Company); Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, an Ohio corporation; Kelsey-Hayes Group (a division of Varity Corporation), a Delaware corporation; Mauritzon, Inc., a foreign corporation; McMaster Carr Supply Company, an Illinois corporation; The Peerless Heater Company, Division of Peerless Industries, Inc., a foreign corporation; Riley Stoker Corporation, a foreign business corporation organized under the laws of Mississippi; Rite-Hite Corporation, a Wisconsin corporation; Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Inc. (f/k/a Norton Company, a Delaware corporation, individually and as successor by merger with Carborundum Abrasives Company); Singer Safety Company, an Illinois corporation; Smith-Sharpe Company, a Minnesota corporation; S.O.S. Products Company, Inc., a New York corporation; Sprinkmann Sons Corporation of Illinois, an Illinois corporation; Superior Boiler Works, Inc., a Kansas corporation; Sussman Electric Boilers, a New York corporation; The Trane Co., a New York corporation, (a division of American Standard, Inc.); Union Carbide Corporation, a Delaware corporation; Uniroyal, Inc., a New Jersey corporation; United Conveyor Corporation, an Illinois corporation; and Weil-McLain Company, a Delaware corporation; Defendants and Appellees.

No. 20090031.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

March 24, 2010.

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COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

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David C. Thompson (argued), David C. Thompson, P.C., Grand Forks, N.D., for plaintiff and appellant.

Jeanette T. Boechler (on brief), Boechler Law Firm, Fargo, N.D., for plaintiff and appellant.

William Hart (argued) and David Thomas Schach (appeared), Minneapolis, MN, for defendants and appellees United Conveyor Corporation, and S.O.S. Products Company, Inc.

Elizabeth Marie Sorenson Brotten (appeared), Kyle Brown Mansfield (on brief), Robert E. Diehl (on brief) and Heather H. Neubauer (on brief), Foley & Mansfield, Minneapolis, MN, for defendants and appellees A.H. Bennett Company, Foster Wheeler Corporation; Greene, Tweed & Company; Norton Company n/k/a ...