Results

Plaintiff and Cross Complainant v. Distributor

June 2011

Sedgwick was successful in obtaining summary judgment for our client, a distributor of an industrial air-conditioning coil cleaner, in a California Superior Court.  The plaintiff, a former air traffic controller at a major international airport, alleged personal injuries resulting in complete disability from exposure to fumes from the coil cleaner.  Two years after the suit was filed, the municipality that owned and maintained the airport filed a cross-complaint against our client, asserting theories of liability based on indemnity and strict product liability for failure to warn and design defect.  After several months of discovery, Sedgwick filed a motion for summary judgment based on the lack of evidence of design defect and the affirmative defense that the municipality was a sophisticated user of the coil cleaner.  The municipality’s primary opposition was based on the declarations of its experts in “human factors” and toxicology.  Sedgwick’s motion for summary judgment prevailed in its entirety, the court finding that the municipality’s claims were unsupported by the evidence and barred as a matter of law.