Southern Illinois Federal Court Shines Brightly in Dismissing Defendants from Non-Illinois Asbestos Exposure Claim

On February 17th and 19th, Judge Staci M. Yandle for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois granted seven motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction for defendants involved in a large multi-defendant asbestos case. In each claim, the plaintiff, a former Navy worker, fell far short of alleging sufficient contacts by the defendants to the state of Illinois to satisfy constitutional due process requirements.  Judge Yandle found that, even though each defendant had some contacts with Illinois, they were not so “continuous and systematic … as to make Illinois their home.” 

The  memorandum opinions and orders were nearly identical. The seven defendants dismissed from the action are MW Custom Papers, LLC, E.I. DuPont De Menours Company, BASF Corporation, ExxonMobil , NIBCO Inc., Valero Energy Corporation, and Clow Corporation. The Madison Record has additional coverage.