A California appellate court has affirmed an award of summary judgment for Shell Oil Co., ruling that the defendant did not have a duty to warn the wife of one of its employees of secondary asbestos exposure.

In a Nov. 21 opinion, the California 2nd District Court of Appeal, Division Three, found that plaintiff Wanda B.’s reading of case law relating to enforcing a duty of care on premises owners for asbestos take-home exposure was too narrow.

Wanda appealed a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County after the court granted summary judgment in favor of defendant Shell Oil Company in a premises liability asbestos action. Wanda claims she developed mesothelioma from asbestos exposure while laundering her late husband’s clothing.

Her husband, Frank, worked at Shell’s Wilmington and Dominguez facilities as a machinist from 1954 until 1992. He died in 2009 from causes not specified in the appeal.

In her appeal, Wanda claimed Shell Oil Co. owed a duty of care to family members, contending that California law supports a duty of care owed by employers to family members of employees to prevent their secondary asbestos exposure.

However, the court concluded that Shell did not owe a duty to an employee’s family to warn of asbestos hazards in the case. Judge Richard Dennis Aldrich delivered the Nov. 21 opinion for the majority in California’s Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District, affirming the lower court’s judgment.

The appeals court reached its decision concluding that a “premises” owner “has no duty to protect a family member from secondary exposure to asbestos off the premises arising from her association with a family member who wore asbestos-contaminated work clothes home. … To hold otherwise would impose limitless liability on premises owners. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s grant of summary judgment,” Judge Aldrich stated.

Asbestos Exposure

Exposure to asbestos fibers has been linked to asbestos cancer, asbestosis (scarring of the lungs that restricts breathing), and asbestos mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the chest cavity). The chances of getting an asbestos-related illness increase as the level and duration of exposure to asbestos increases.

Mesothelioma is the most serious health problem linked to asbestos exposure and is a malignant form of cancer that attacks the linings of the chest wall and lungs or the lining of the abdomen. Mesothelioma can be contracted from asbestos exposure (and second hand asbestos exposure).

Many mesothelioma victims were in the armed forces, in particular, the Navy. Asbestos fibers have been used in the manufacturing of a wide variety of industrial and household products in the United States and around the world. Mesothelioma is an aggressive disease with a dismal prognosis.

The Shell Oil Company Asbestos Lawsuit is Case No. B256407 in the Court of Appeal of the State of California, Second Appellate District, Division 3.