Industrial Equipment Manufacturer Dismissed from Lung Cancer Death Suit in California

December 22, 2022 (Los Angeles, CA) – Hawkins Parnell & Young Chicago partner, Jenni Young, obtained a dismissal for a forklift and crane manufacturer in a wrongful death case in California. The plaintiff alleged that toxic exposure from the defendant's products caused her deceased husband's lung cancer.

Although the decedent testified to working with and around the company's products for numerous years, Hawkins Parnell filed a summary judgment motion to exclude all of the decedent's prior sworn testimony as inadmissible. Leaning on precedent from the O.J. Simpson civil case, Hawkins Parnell sought exclusion of testimony because the depositions were from a previous action where the client was not present and did not have an opportunity to cross-examine the witness. Without these transcripts, there was no evidence against Hawkins' Parnell's client. Rather than oppose the motion in the Superior Court of California for Los Angeles County, the plaintiff dismissed Hawkins Parnell's client a month before trial.