Whether Asbestos-Containing Components Were Manufactured by Third Parties No Longer Matters in New Jersey

Aligning with neighboring New York, and clearing up conflict within the Appellate Division, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled equipment manufacturers can be held strictly liable on the basis of failure to warn for asbestos-containing component parts made or supplied by third parties. Whelan v. Armstrong Int’l, Inc., (N.J. 6/3/20).

The Court in Whelan affirmed the New Jersey Appellate Division’s denial of summary judgment and remanded the case to the trial court. In doing so, the Court held that manufacturers and distributors may be found strictly liable for failure to warn of the dangers of their products, including their asbestos-containing components and a third-party’s replacement components, provided that a plaintiff can prove all of the following:

• The manufacturers or distributors incorporated asbestos-containing components in their original products
• The asbestos-containing components were integral to the product and necessary for it to function
• Routine maintenance of the product required replacing the original asbestos-containing components with similar asbestos-containing components
• The exposure to the asbestos-containing components or replacement components was a substantial factor in causing or exacerbating the plaintiff’s disease.

Justice Albin authored the majority opinion. Chief Justice Rabner and Justices LaVecchia, Solomon, and Timpone joined in Justice Albin’s opinion. Justice Patterson filed a dissent, in which Justice Fernandez-Vina joined.

The plaintiff in Whelan worked on the defendants’ products while performing maintenance as a residential and commercial plumber and automobile mechanic over a 40-year period. Whelan alleged that he contracted mesothelioma while working on the defendant manufacturers’ and distributors’ products, and, in particular, those products’ asbestos-containing components or the asbestos-containing replacement components manufactured or supplied by third parties, who were not named as defendants.

The plaintiff argued that the defendants had a duty to warn about the dangers of exposure not only to asbestos-containing component parts but also to the required asbestos-containing replacement components manufactured or supplied by third parties. The defendants countered that they owed no duty to warn about the dangers of such asbestos-containing replacement components, which were “incorporated into their products after those products left their...