Sherman v. Hennessy Industries, Inc.

Case Updates

The petition for review was denied.

In its amicus letter, the U.S. Chamber urged the California Supreme Court to review a Court of Appeal decision that held strict product liability may be imposed upon a manufacturer that somehow “derived” an “economic benefit” from a defective product that it did not design or produce, but was used in conjunction with the manufacturer’s otherwise safe product.

The Chamber filed a letter supporting the petition and explained that the lower court’s decision is another example of the extreme lengths to which some courts have gone in an effort to find solvent asbestos defendants. The Chamber argued that imposing liability on a company that did not manufacture the challenged product stretches strict product liability law to a breaking point.

Jeremy B. Rosen and Karen M. Bray of Horvitz & Levy LLP served as counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center.