A Florida appellate court has ruled against a man who claims products he used at work caused him to develop blood and bone marrow disease.
Robert J. O’Donnell and his wife Sandra O’Donnell filed a negligence and product liability lawsuit against W.F. Taylor Co., Inc., Armstrong World Industries, Inc., Roberts Consolidated Industries, Inc., Dap Products Inc., and Whitaker Oil Company, alleging that he became ill from using their products for 40 years while installing carpets and flooring.
His complaint alleges that the products contain benzene, which caused him to suffer life-threatening injuries and for his wife to suffer loss of consortium.
However, the Fourth District Court of Appeals upheld the trial court’s ruling in favor of defendants, stating in its opinion that the [husband’s] illness would likely have occurred regardless of the [defendants’] actions and their actions alone were not enough to be the likely cause.
“The impact of the Fourth District Court of Appeal opinion in O’Donnell v. W.F. Taylor et al. (No. 4D18-3772) on toxic tort product litigation will be profound and signals a sea change for defendants involved in any case alleging multiple exposures to products manufactured by different companies," said Edward J. Briscoe, counsel for the defendants and managing shareholder with Fowler White Burnett law firm in Miami.
While the O’Donnells could appeal the decision, Briscoe is confident the decision will stand.
“We are quite confident in the soundness of the decision and that it will withstand further appellate scrutiny,” Briscoe told the Florida Record in an interview. “The appellate court relied on Florida Jury Instruction. That instruction states in relevant part that a product defect (or negligence) is a legal cause of injury only if 'it can reasonably be said that but for the defect the injury would not have occurred.'”