Assumed-Duty Doctrine Applied

In Graves v. Riverwood International Corp., decided August 18, the Second Circuit applied the assumed-duty doctrine as enunciated on May 25 by the Supreme Court of Louisiana in Bujol v. Entergy Corp. Mr. Graves, a paper-mill employee, died of mesothelioma. His survivors sued Olin Corp., whose subsidiary owned the paper mill. They alleged that Mr. Graves was a third-party beneficiary under a contract between Olin and the subsidiary under which Olin allegedly agreed to provide industrial-hygiene services to the subsidiary. The Second Circuit affirmed summary judgment in Olin's favor under a contract theory, but reversed under the assumed-duty theory, holding that plaintiffs were entitled to introduce evidence that Olin voluntarily assumed a duty to Mr. Graves to protect him from asbestos exposure.

Posted by RPW at August 24, 2004 10:24 AM