Ga. High Court Strikes Down Asbestos Tort-Reform Law

Georgia's new asbestos litigation reform law unconstitutionally requires plaintiffs with pre-existing claims to establish a new element to prove their case, the state Supreme Court has ruled.

The law "provides for the dismissal of any asbestos claims pending on April 12, 2005, unless [the plaintiff] establishes prima facie evidence of physical impairment with respect to the claim," according to the high court.

The justices heard an interlocutory appeal of multiple asbestos actions filed in Cobb County prior to enactment of the law last year. The trial courts had determined, in "virtually identical orders," that it was unconstitutional to apply the new requirements to cases filed before April 12, 2005.

Before the law was enacted, in order to establish a claim a plaintiff had to show "only that exposure to asbestos was a contributing factor in his or her medical condition." John Crane Inc. v. Jones, 278 Ga. 747, 604 S.E.2d 822 (Ga. 2004).

The new law, Ga. Code Ann. § 51-14-1 et seq., requires plaintiffs to show evidence that asbestos was "a substantial contributing factor to their medical condition" or face dismissal, the Supreme Court said.

The defendants in the underlying actions, including DaimlerChrysler Corp. and Georgia-Pacific Corp., asked the state Supreme Court to determine if the trial courts erred.

The high court found that the added requirement of the new law placed an unconstitutional burden on plaintiffs.

"Accordingly, the provisions of the act ... affect appellees' substantive rights and cannot retroactively be applied to their claims," the court said.

The panel declined the defendants' suggestion to sever that specific language from the law, finding the evidentiary requirements placed on plaintiffs are at "the heart of the act."

"[W]e cannot effectively sever the unconstitutional provisions from the act and it must fall in its entirety," the Supreme Court ruled.