Washington Expands Duty to Warn in Asbestos Cases

The Washington Court of Appeals has dramatically expanded the duty to warn in a pair of recently-decided asbestos cases.  In one case, Simonetta v. Viad Corp., 151 P.3d 1019 (Wash. App. Div. 2007), the court ruled that a product manufacturer whose products necessarily involved the use of asbestos, even if the asbestos was not part of the product and was instead supplied by another manufacturer, owes a duty to warn of the risks of asbestos exposure.  In the other case, Bratten v. Saberhagen Holdings, 151 P.3d 1010 (Wash. App. Div. 2007), the court ruled that products that required the use of asbestos to function properly, even though the products themselves contained no asbestos, may be considered defective.  Taken together, these cases purport to expand the duty of product manufacturers to warn about the potential risks of asbestos products made and installed by others.  See the analysis by G.W. Shaw, Michael K. Ryan and James H. Curtis of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis LLP.

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