Margaret M. Joffe and Jamie H. Baglio obtained a defense judgment on behalf of their client, Anco Insulations, Inc. (“Anco”). The plaintiff, James Fletcher, had been diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma. Mr. Fletcher alleged that he was exposed to asbestos when he worked at a Baton Rouge-based Exxon refinery. He further alleged that Anco was an insulation contractor at the same facility.

While the disease was confirmed, the Court found that Anco had stopped doing insulation work 15 years before Mr. Fletcher began working at the Exxon facility. “There is nothing beyond speculation that an Anco product exposed Fletcher to asbestos,” Judge Piper Griffin wrote in her written reasons for judgment.

Defense judgments are extremely rare in living mesothelioma cases. In the same week that the Court ruled in Anco’s favor, a jury in an unrelated case returned a $5.5 million verdict on behalf of a 62-year-old living mesothelioma plaintiff.

The case is Fletcher, et al. v. Anco Insulations, et al., No. 2015­–02416, Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, State of Louisiana.