Quiroz v. Alcoa, Inc.

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The U.S. Chamber urged the Arizona Supreme Court to affirm a court of appeals ruling that properly applied longstanding principles of tort law to hold that an employer’s duty does not extend beyond the workplace. In this case, an employee’s relative claims to have come into contact with asbestos fibers allegedly carried home by the employee from his workplace. The Chamber’s amicus brief argues that it would be an extraordinary change to Arizona law to recognize a legal duty in tort extending from the owner or operator of a facility to all those who may come into contact with an individual who encounters potentially dangerous substances at the facility. Plaintiffs would have this seemingly limitless duty extend to people and places located far beyond the confines of the facility, including places that the facility owner has never visited, and over which the facility owner has no control.

Thomas E. Kelly, Jr., Nicholas P. Vari, and Michael J. Ross of K&L Gates LLP served as co-counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center in this case.