Grigg v. Owens-Illinois, Inc.

Case Updates

The parties reached a settlement in this matter.

The U.S. Chamber asked a California Court of Appeals to reverse a trial court decision allowing punitive damages in asbestos cases. The brief argues that the failure to warn of asbestos dangers cannot be considered “reprehensible” for punitive damages purposes where the dangers of asbestos were unknown at the time. Moreover, given the enormous backlog of asbestos cases, allowing punitive damages impairs the courts’ ability to resolve these cases efficiently by injecting tremendous uncertainty, and also threatens to completely deplete the funds that would be available to compensate future plaintiffs.

Kevin Underhill of Shook, Hardy, and Bacon LLP represented the U.S. Chamber as co-counsel to the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center in this case.

The Chamber filed this brief jointly with the Coalition for Litigation Justice, Inc., National Association of Manufacturers, American Tort Reform Association, NFIB Small Business Legal Center, and American Chemistry Council.