Rost v. Ford Motor Co.

• Decision Date: 22 November 2016
• Docket Number: No. 56 EAP 2014,56 EAP 2014
• Citation: 151 A.3d 1032
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court
• Parties: Richard M. ROST, Executor of the Estate of Richard J. Rost & Erin Sipley, Executrix of the Estate of Joyce Rost, Appellees v. FORD MOTOR COMPANY, Appellant

151 A.3d 1032

Richard M. ROST, Executor of the Estate of Richard J. Rost & Erin Sipley, Executrix of the Estate of Joyce Rost, Appellees

v.FORD MOTOR COMPANY, Appellant

No. 56 EAP 2014

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

ARGUED: May 6, 2015

REARGUED: April 6, 2016

DECIDED: November 22, 2016

Robert L. Byer, Sharon L. Caffrey, Duane Morris LLP, 30 S. 17th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-4196, for Ford Motor Company, Appellant.

David James Bird, James Michael Beck, Reed Smith LLP, Reed Smith LLP, 225 5th Ave. Ste 1200, Pittsburgh, PA 15222-2716, for Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc., 1850 Centennial Park Drive, Suite 510, Appellant Amicus Curiae.

John Jacob Hare, Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin, P.C., 2000 Market Street, Suite 2300, Philadelphia, PA 19103, for Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, and Pennsylvania Defense Institute, Appellant Amicus Curiae.

Alice Sacks Johnston, James Michael Evans, Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP, 120 Fifth Ave Ste 2700, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, for Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., Appellant Amicus Curiae.

Martin S. Kaufman, Atlantic Legal Foundation, 2309 Palmer Avenue, Suite 104, Larchmont, NY 10538, Patrick Joseph Hughes, Connell Foley, LLP, 1500 Market Street, 12th Floor, East Tower, Philadelphia, PA 19101, for Atlantic Legal Foundation, Appellant Amicus Curiae.

Peter J. Neeson, Carl D., Buchholz III, Rawle & Henderson LLP, The Widener Building, 1 S Penn Sq., Philadelphia, PA 19107, Angela Marie Heim, Rawle & Henderson LLP, One South Penn Square, The Widener Building, 16th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19104, for Honeywell International, Inc., Appellant Amicus Curiae.

Sean Peter Wajert, Shook, Hardy & Bacon, L.L.P., Two Commerce Square, 2001 Market Street, Suite 3000, Philadelphia, PA 19103, for American Insurance Association (The), American Tort Reform Association, Coalition for Litigation Justice, Inc., National Association of Manufacturers, Appellant Amicus Curiae.

Clayton Layne Thompson, Maune Raichle Hartley French & Mudd, LLC, 211 N. Broadway, Suite 2940, St. Louis, MO 63102, Steven J. Cooperstein, Brookman, Rosenberg, Brown & Sandler, 30 S 15th St 17th Fl, Philadelphia, PA 19102, for Erin Sipley, Executrix of the Estate of Joyce Rost, Appellee and Richard M. Rost, Executor of the Estate of Richard J. Rost, Appellee.

Michael B. Leh, Locks Law Firm, 601 Walnut St Ste 720 East Philadelphia, PA 19106, for Roux, M.D., PhD., M.P.H., Ana Diez, Appellee Amicus Curiae.

Bruce E. Mattock, Goldberg, Persky & White, P.C., 1030 Fifth Ave 3rd Fl, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, for Baur, Prof. Dr. Med. Xaver, Bedrossian, MD, PhD (Hon), FIAC, Carlos, Bingham, PhD, Eula, Bonnier-Viger, MD, MSc, MM, CMSQ, FRCPC, Yv, Brophy, PhD, James, Bugiani, MD, Massimiliano, Cattleman, ScD, Barry, Clapp, DSc, MPH, Richard, Consonni, MD PhD, Dario, Counil, Emilie, Dalvie, BSc, Hons, MSc, PhD, Mohamed Aqiel, Dement, Ph.D., CIH, John M., Fletcher, PhD, Tony, Fubini, Professor Bice, Gassert, MD, MSc, Thomas H., Gochfeld, MD, PhD, Michael, Goldsmith, MSPH, PhD, David F., Hadell, MD, PhD, Lennart, Huff, PhD, James, Infante, DDS, DrPH, Peter F., Jeebhay MBChB, MPH OeeMed), PhD, Mohamed F., Joshi, FRCS, FFOM, T.K., Keith, PhD, Margaret, Keyserlingk, MD, MSC, FRCS(C), FACS, John R., Khatter, MD, CCFP, MES, Kapil, Kramer, MHS, PhD, Shira, Landrigan, MD, MSc, FAAP, Philip J., Lanpher, MD, MPH, Bruce, Lemen, PhD., MSPH, Richard A., Levenstein, PhD., MS, Charles, Lippman, PhD, Abby, Markowitz, PhD, Gerald, Mikkelson, MD, DrMedSci, Sigurd, Mirabelli, MD, Dario, Monforton, DrPH, MPH, Celeste, Muge Akpinar-Elci, M.D., MPH; Prof. Dr. Med. Xavier Baur, et al., Nair, BSc, MStat, MSc, PhD, FACE, Rama C., Oliver, MD, MPH, MS, L. Christine, Ozonoff, MD, MPH, David, Paek, MD, MSc, ScD, Domyung, Pakhale, MD, FRCPC, MSc (Epidemiology & Biostatistics), Smita, Petersen, PhD, Rolf, Rosenberg, ScD, MPH, Beth, Rosenman, MD, FACE, FACPM, Kenneth, Rosner, PhD, David, Wise, Ethel H., Appellee Amicus Curiae.

Joseph D. Satterley, Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood, Jack London Market, 55 Harrison Street, Suite 400, Oakland, CA 94607, for The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, Appellee Amicus Curiae.

Jason Timothy Shipp, Goldberg, Persky & White, P.C., 1030 Fifth Ave 3rd Fl, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, for Baur, Prof. Dr. Med. Xaver, Bedrossian, MD, PhD (Hon), FIAC, Carlos, Bingham, PhD, Eula, Bonnier-Viger, MD, MSc, MM, CMSQ, FRCPC, Yv, Brophy, PhD, James, Bugiani, MD, Massimiliano, Cattleman, ScD, Barry, Clapp, DSc, MPH, Richard, Consonni, MD PhD, Dario, Counil, Emilie, Dalvie, BSc, Hons, MSc, PhD, Mohamed Aqiel, Dement, Ph.D., CIH, John M., Fletcher, PhD, Tony, Fubini, Professor Bice, Gassert, MD, MSc, Thomas H., Gochfeld, MD, PhD, Michael, Goldsmith, MSPH, PhD, David F., Hadell, MD, PhD, Lennart, Huff, PhD, James, Infante, DDS, DrPH, Peter F., Jeebhay MBChB, MPH OeeMed), PhD, Mohamed F., Joshi, FRCS, FFOM, T.K., Keith, PhD, Margaret, Keyserlingk, MD, MSC, FRCS(C), FACS, John R., Khatter, MD, CCFP, MES, Kapil, Kramer, MHS, PhD, Shira, Landrigan, MD, MSc, FAAP, Philip J., Lanpher, MD, MPH, Bruce, Lemen, PhD., MSPH, Richard A., Levenstein, PhD., MS, Charles, Lippman, PhD, Abby, Markowitz, PhD, Gerald, Mikkelson, MD, DrMedSci, Sigurd, Mirabelli, MD, Dario, Monforton, DrPH, MPH, Celeste, Muge Akpinar-Elci, M.D., MPH; Prof. Dr. Med. Xavier Baur, et al., Nair, BSc, MStat, MSc, PhD, FACE, Rama C., Oliver, MD, MPH, MS, L. Christine, Ozonoff, MD, MPH, David, Paek, MD, MSc, ScD, Domyung, Pakhale, MD, FRCPC, MSc (Epidemiology & Biostatistics), Smita, Petersen, PhD, Rolf, Rosenberg, ScD, MPH, Beth, Rosenman, MD, FACE, FACPM, Kenneth, Rosner, PhD, David, Silverstein, MD, MPH, Michael, Slatin, Sc.D., MPH, Craig, Soskolne, PhD, Colin L., Stayner, PhD, Leslie Thomas, Takhashi, MD, PhD, MPH, Ken, Teitelbaum, MD, Daniel Thau, Terracini, Benedetto, Thebaud-Mony, Annie, Turcotte, MD, MPH, FRCPC, Fernand, Watterson, PhD, CFIOSH, Andrew, Wegman, MD, MSc, David H., Welch, MD, Laura S., Wise, Ethel H., Woitowitz, Pro. Em. Dr. Med. Hans-Joachim, Appellee Amicus Curiae.

SAYLOR, C.J., BAER, TODD, DONOHUE, DOUGHERTY, WECHT, JJ.

OPINION

JUSTICE DONOHUE

We address again the proper application of the "frequency, regularity, and proximity" criteria in asbestos product liability litigation, seeking to provide further illumination on the principles set forth in our decisions in this area, Gregg v. V–J Auto Parts, Co., 596 Pa. 274, 943 A.2d 216 (2007), and Betz v. Pneumo Abex , LLC, 615 Pa. 504, 44 A.3d 27 (2012). For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the trial court and the Superior Court properly applied those principles in this case, and thus affirm the judgment entered in favor of Appellees.

In October 2009, Appellees Richard and Joyce Rost¹ filed suit against multiple manufacturers of asbestos, averring that exposure to the defendants' asbestos-containing products caused Richard Rost ("Rost") to contract mesothelioma. Before trial, the Rosts settled their claims against all defendants except for Appellant Ford Motor Company ("Ford"). Over Ford's objections, the trial court consolidated the case for trial with two other mesothelioma cases. Trial commenced in September 2011, at which time the trial court reminded the parties of a pre-trial ruling, in accordance with Gregg, precluding any expert from offering testimony that "each and every breath" of asbestos may constitute an evidentiary basis for the jury to find that the defendant's product was a substantial cause of mesothelioma.² N.T., 9/12/2011 (AM), at 37.

At trial, Rost testified that upon graduation from high school in 1950, he took a job at Smith Motors in Washington, New Jersey, for three to four months, working full time Monday through Friday and half a day on Saturday. N.T., 9/14/2011 (AM), at 101, 114. While Smith Motors was a full service garage, it serviced approximately eighty-five to ninety percent Ford vehicles. Id. at 151. The parties stipulated that all model year Ford vehicles, from 1945 until 1950, used asbestos brakes and asbestos clutches, and that Ford's brakes and clutches were forty to sixty percent chrysotile asbestos by weight. Stipulation, Rost Exhibit 5. Rost described his job as being a "gofer," which involved basic maintenance tasks (changing oil, lubrication, and undercoating). Id. at 103. It was also his job to keep the garage area clean. Id. Approximately three to five times per week, when the mechanics removed brake shoes before performing a brake job, Rost had to pop off the asbestos lining from each shoe and throw it away. Id. at 103–05. There were two linings on each brake shoe, so this necessitated that he remove eight linings in connection with each brake job. Id. Asbestos dust was released as each lining was popped off, and Rost testified that he would breathe this dust in on every occasion. Id. at 105. Once a day, the mechanics would use an air compressor to blow out the dirt and debris inside the brake drums, and this would result in a significant amount of asbestos dust circulating throughout the garage. Id. at 106. Rost was typically within thirty to forty feet of these blowouts. Id. at 149–50.

Rost was also exposed to asbestos based upon his proximity to mechanics sanding brakes, replacing clutches, and performing engine work (head gaskets containing asbestos). Id. at 105, 129–31. At the end of each day, Rost testified that he cleaned up all of the asbestos dust and debris generated from the brake jobs, blow outs, and clutch and engine work. Id. at 113–14. He used a push broom to gather the waste from the mechanics' work areas, and typically deposited three coal shovelfuls of waste into the garbage at the end of each day. Id. at 114. Smith Motors did not have an exhaust system, with only a single fan in the window for ventilation, and Rost testified that "there was a smell in the garage from the dust in the air the whole time we were working in there." Id. at 111. Smith Motors also had no shower facilities, and so Rost wore his dirty dust-covered clothes home at...