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  • CHARLES HUSBAND VS. ASBESTOS DEFENDANTS (B*P) AS REFLECTED ON EXHIBITS ASBESTOS document preview
  • CHARLES HUSBAND VS. ASBESTOS DEFENDANTS (B*P) AS REFLECTED ON EXHIBITS ASBESTOS document preview
  • CHARLES HUSBAND VS. ASBESTOS DEFENDANTS (B*P) AS REFLECTED ON EXHIBITS ASBESTOS document preview
  • CHARLES HUSBAND VS. ASBESTOS DEFENDANTS (B*P) AS REFLECTED ON EXHIBITS ASBESTOS document preview
  • CHARLES HUSBAND VS. ASBESTOS DEFENDANTS (B*P) AS REFLECTED ON EXHIBITS ASBESTOS document preview
  • CHARLES HUSBAND VS. ASBESTOS DEFENDANTS (B*P) AS REFLECTED ON EXHIBITS ASBESTOS document preview
  • CHARLES HUSBAND VS. ASBESTOS DEFENDANTS (B*P) AS REFLECTED ON EXHIBITS ASBESTOS document preview
  • CHARLES HUSBAND VS. ASBESTOS DEFENDANTS (B*P) AS REFLECTED ON EXHIBITS ASBESTOS document preview
						
                                

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MICHAEL T. MCCALL, State Bar No. 109580 mmecall@wtfbm.com WALSWORTH, FRANKLIN, BEVINS & McCALL, LLP ELECTRONICALLY 601 Montgomery Street, Ninth Floor San Francisco, California 94111-2612 FILED. Telephone: (415) 781-7072 Seem Court of California, Facsimile: (415) 391-6258 OCT 29 2010 Attorneys for Defendant Clerk of the Court THOMAS DEE ENGINEERING COMPANY BY: ANNIE PASCUAL Deputy Clerk SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO CHARLES HUSBAND, Case No, CGC-09-275098 Plaintiff, ANSWER OF DEFENDANT THOMAS DEE ENGINEERING COMPANY TO vs. PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT FOR PERSONAL INJURY - ASBESTOS ASBESTOS DEFENDANTS (B*P), etc.; et al., Defendants, Defendant THOMAS DEE ENGINEERING COMPANY (hereafter "Defendant"), in answering the Plaintiff's unverified complaint, for itself alone, and severing itself from all others, admits, denies and alleges as follows: 1. Pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure Section 431.30, Defendant denies, both generally and specifically, each, every and all allegations of each and every purported cause of action or count of Plaintiff's complaint, denying specifically that Plaintiff has been, is, or will be injured or damaged in the manner or sum alleged, or in any other manner or sums at all, and further denying that Defendant was negligent in any manner, that the alleged product installed or distributed was defective in any way, or that the alleged defect was the proximate cause of the Plaintiff's claimed damages or injuries. DEFENDANT HEREIN ALLEGES AND SETS FORTH SEPARATELY AND DISTINCTLY THE FOLLOWING AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES TO EACH AND EVERY CAUSE OF ACTION ALLEGED IN PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT AS THOUGH PLEADED -l- THOMAS DEE ENGINEERING COMPANY'S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT 1057005, 1777-7.681128 Walsworth, Frankia, Bevins & MeCall, LLP AnrowSES 57 L40 SEPARATELY TO EACH AND EVERY CAUSE OF ACTION: FIRST AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 2. The complaint and each and every purported cause of action or count thereof fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause or causes of action against Defendant. SECOND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 3. Defendant is informed and believes and thereon alleges that the acts, injuries and damages alleged in the complaint occurred and were proximately caused by either the sole negligence or fault of Plaintiff, which sole negligence or fault bars Plaintiff's recovery, or were contributed to by Plaintiff's negligence or fault. Plaintiff's recovery, if any, should be reduced by an amount proportionate to the amount by which Plaintiff's negligence or fault contributed to the happening of the alleged incident and/or alleged injury. THIRD AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 4, Defendant is informed and believes and thereon alleges that the negligence, carelessness and other acts or omissions of other Defendants in this lawsuit, as well as other persons and entities not parties to this lawsuit, proximately caused or contributed to Plaintiff's injuries and damages, if any. The negligence, carelessness and other acts or omissions of the other Defendants in this lawsuit and other persons and entities not parties to this lawsuit account for one hundred percent (100%) of the causal or contributing factors relating to Plaintiff's injuries and damages, if any, and/or constitute the sapervening and/or intervening causes of Plaintiff's injuries and damages, if any. FOURTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE Ss. Defendant is informed and believes and thereon alleges that the accident, injury and damages alleged in Plaintiff's complaint occurred and were proximately caused by either the sole negligence of Plaintiff's employers other than Defendant, or co-employees, which sole negligence bars Plaintiff's recovery, or were contributed to by the negligence of Plaintiff's employers other than Defendant, or co-employees. Plaintiff's recovery, if any, must be reduced by an amount proportionate to the amount by which the negligence of Plaintiff's employers other than Defendant and/or the negligence of Plaintiff's co-employees contributed to the happening of the alleged 2- THOMAS DEE ENGINEERING COMPANY'S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT 1057005, 5 1777-7.651128 Walsworth, Frankia, Bevins & MeCall, LLP AnrowSES 57 L40 accident and the alleged injuries. FIFTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 6. Defendant is informed and believes and thereon alleges that while at all times denying any liability whatsoever to Plaintiff, any alleged liability or responsibility of Defendant is small in proportion to the alleged liability and responsibility of other persons or entities, including other persons and entities who are parties herein, and Plaintiff should be limited to seeking recovery from Defendant for the proportion in which Defendant is allegedly liable or responsible, all such alleged liability and responsibility being expressly denied. SIXTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 7. Defendant is informed and believes and thereon alleges that at the time the alleged operations, acts and conduct occurred, Plaintiff was acting within the course and scope of employment and was entitled to receive, did receive and will continue to receive workers’ compensation benefits, Plaintiff's employers other than Defendant failed to provide the Plaintiff with a safe place in which to work and such employers’ negligence, carelessness and other acts and omissions proximately caused the injuries and damages claimed. Therefore, these employers and their workers' compensation carriers are barred from any recovery by lien or otherwise herein, and Defendant is entitled to set off any such benefits Plaintiff has received against any judgment rendered in favor of Plaintiff. SEVENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 8. Defendant is informed and believes and thereon alleges that Plaintiff knew of the risks and dangers inherent to Plaintiff's conduct, and with full knowledge of those risks and dangers and with an appreciation for the magnitude of the risks and dangers, did voluntarily assume the risks, injuries and damages, if any, sustained thereby. Plaintiff's assumption of risk bars or proportionately reduces any recovery by Plaintiff. EIGHTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 9. Defendant is informed and believes and thereon alleges that if Plaintiff was injured by materials, products and/or equipment supplied, utilized or distributed by Defendant, which is hereby expressly denied, such products and/or equipment were intended for and provided to a 3. THOMAS DEE ENGINEERING COMPANY'S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT 1057005, 5 1777-7.651128 Walsworth, Frankia, Bevins & MeCall, LLP AnrowSES 57 L40 knowledgeable and sophisticated distributor or user over whom Defendant had no control and who was fully informed as to the risks and dangers, if any, associated with those products and/or equipment and the precautions, if any, required to avoid those risks and dangers, if any. NINTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 10. Defendant is informed and believes and thereon alleges that Plaintiff is a member of a sophisticated group of users of Defendant's services, products, materials and/or equipment. TENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 11. Defendant is informed and believes and thereon alleges that Plaintiff possessed the level of knowledge and skill based upon Plaintiff's training, education and/or experience such that Plaintiff should be categorized as a sophisticated user of Defendant's services, products, materials and/or equipment. ELEVENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 12. Defendant is informed and believes and thereon alleges that Plaintiff was trained to perform the tasks Plaintiffs claim caused Plaintiff to contact with Defendant's services, products, materials and/or equipment. TWELFTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 13. Defendant is informed and believes and thereon alleges that Plaintiff would reasonably be expected to know of the hazards of working with and/or around Defendant's services, products, materials and/or equipment. THIRTEENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 14. Defendant is informed and believes and thereon alleges that Plaintiff was employed by and trained by a company who is a member of a sophisticated group of users of Defendant's services, products, materials and/or equipment. FOURTEENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 15. Plaintiff has failed to make reasonable efforts to mitigate Plaintiff's injuries and/or damages, if any. FIFTEENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 16. | The complaint and each and every cause of action contained therein are barred by -4- THOMAS DEE ENGINEERING COMPANY'S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT 1057005, 5 1777-7.651128 Walsworth, Frankia, Bevins & MeCall, LLP AnrowSES 57 L40 the applicable statute of limitations including, but not limited to, Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1, 338, 339, 340.2 and 343. SIXTEENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 17. yg jaintiff’s action is barred by the provisions of Labor Code §3600, et seq. SEVENTEENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 18. Plaintiff has waived and is estopped from asserting any claim against Defendant by reason of Plaintiff's approval and consent to the risks of the matters causing the damages, if any, and Plaintiff's acknowledgment of, acquiescence in and consent to the alleged acts or omissions, if any, of Defendant. EIGHTEENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 19. This action is barred by laches as Plaintiff unreasonably delayed in the bringing of this action and thereby prejudiced the rights of Defendant. NINETEENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 20. Defendant alleges that Defendant distributed and installed product(s) in full compliance with regulations and/or specifications promulgated by the United States Government and any recovery by Plaintiff is barred as a consequence. TWENTIETH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 21. Plaintiff is barred from asserting any claim based on. breach of warranty against Defendant by reason of failure to fulfill the conditions of warranties alleged in Plaintiff's complaint in the event such alleged warranties are proved at trial. TWENTY-FIRST AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 22. Defendant alleges that Plaintiff has waived whatever rights Plaintiff might otherwise have had for breach of warranty in that Plaintiff failed to notify Defendant of any alleged breach of warranty, express or implied, and/or of any alleged defects in any product(s) installed or distributed by Defendant within a reasonable time after Plaintiff discovered, and/or should have discovered, any defect or nonconformity, if any existed, thereby prejudicing Defendant from being able to fully investigate and defend the allegations contained in Plaintiff's complaint. Se THOMAS DEE ENGINEERING COMPANY'S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT 1057005, 5 1777-7.651128 Walsworth, Frankia, Bevins & MeCall, LLP AnrowSES 57 L40 TWENTY-SECOND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 23. Defendant alleges that Plaintiff is now estopped from claiming that any product(s) installed or distributed by Defendant were in any way defective or failed to conform to any alleged warranties in that Plaintiff failed to notify Defendant of any defect or nonconformity in any product(s) within a reasonable time after Plaintiff discovered, or should have discovered, any defect or nonconformity, if any existed. TWENTY-THIRD AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 24. Defendant alleges that Plaintiff was not in privity of contract with Defendant and that such lack of privity bars recovery herein upon any theory of warranty. TWENTY-FOURTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 25. Defendant alleges that any injuries or damages suffered by Plaintiff, the existence thereof being expressly denied, are the direct and proximate result of Plaintiff's particular, idiosyncratic, peculiar or unforeseeable susceptibility to the alleged product(s) installed or distributed by Defendant, which reaction was not the result of any conduct or omission of Defendant, nor the result of any defect in any product(s) installed or distributed by Defendant. TWENTY-FIFTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 26. Defendant alleges that if Plaintiff was injured by any product(s) installed or distributed by Defendant, Defendant, irrespective, did not breach any duty to Plaintiff and is not liable for any injuries or for Plaintiff's claimed damages as the product(s) when installed and distributed conformed to the then current state-of-the-art specifications and because the then current state-of-the-art medical, scientific and industrial knowledge, art and practice were such that Defendant did not and could not know that the product(s) might pose a risk of harm in normal and foreseeable use. TWENTY-SIXTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 27. Defendant alleges that Plaintiff did not reasonably rely upon any act, omission or representation of Defendant. TWENTY-SEVENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 28. In the event that Plaintiff is entitled to non-economic damages including, but not ~6- THOMAS DEE ENGINEERING COMPANY'S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT 1057005, 5 1777-7.651128 Walsworth, Frankia, Bevins & MeCall, LLP AnrowSES 57 L40 limited to, pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental suffering, emotional distress, loss of society and companionship, loss of consortium, and/or injury to reputation and humiliation, Defendant shall be liable only for the amount of non-economic damages allocated to Defendant's percentage of fault, and a separate judgment shall be rendered against Defendant for that amount pursuant to Civil Code §1431.2. TWENTY-EIGHTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 29, Defendant alleges that Defendant was not engaged in the business of supplying, tendering, installing, distributing and/or furnishing products and/or goods or services for use or consumption by the general public. TWENTY-NINTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 30. Defendant denies any and all liability to the extent that Plaintiff may assert Defendant's alleged liability as a successor, successor in business, successor in product line or a portion thereof, assign, predecessor, predecessor in business, predecessor in product line or a portion thereof, parent, alter ego, subsidiary, wholly or partially owned by, or the whole or partial owner or member in an entity in which there has been research, study, manufacturing, fabricating, designing, labeling, assembling, distributing, leasing, buying, offering for sale, selling, inspecting, servicing, installing, contracting for installation, repairing, marketing, warranting, re-branding, manufacturing for others, packaging and advertising of a certain substance, the generic name of which is asbestos. THIRTIETH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 31. Defendant alleges that Plaintiff herein lacks legal capacity and standing to sue; is not a real party in interest or person with superior right to make the claims contained in this complaint and is thereby precluded from any recovery whatsoever. Additionally, to the extent Plaintiff lacks standing or proper appointment to bring the claims Plaintiff is asserting, any action taken in this matter with regard to Plaintiff's claim(s) is voidable. Defendant further contends that any declaration filed by any person asserting a survival claim contains expert opinions and conclusions that are not supported and that the declarant is not qualified to make. 7. THOMAS DEE ENGINEERING COMPANY'S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT 1057005, 5 1777-7.651128 Walsworth, Frankia, Bevins & MeCall, LLP AnrowSES 57 L40 THIRTY-FIRST AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 32. Defendant alleges that Plaintiff's complaint and each and every cause of action fail to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause or causes of action for punitive damages against Defendant. THIRTY-SECOND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 33. Defendant alleges that insofar as the instant complaint is an attempt to recover punitive or exemplary damages from Defendant, it violates the following United States Constitutional and California State Constitutional principles: a Excessive fines clause of the United States Constitution, Eighth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment; b. The contract clause, Article I, Section 10, clause !, and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution; c. The due process clause of the United States Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment; d. The equal protection clause of the United States Constitution; e The California Constitution due process and equal protection clauses, Article 1, Section 7(a); f The California Constitution excessive fines clause, Article 1, Section 17. WHEREFORE, Defendant THOMAS DEE ENGINEERING COMPANY prays for judgment as follows: 1. That Plaintiff takes nothing from Defendant by virtue of the complaint herein; 2. That Defendant be awarded costs of suit and attorneys’ fees herein; and 3. That Defendant be granted such other and further relief as the Court may deem just and proper. Dated: October 29, 2010 Respectfully submitted, WALSWORTH, FRANKLIN, BEVINS & McCALL, LLP By: — /S/ MICHAEL T. MCCALL MICHAEL T. MCCALL Attorneys for Defendant THOMAS DEE ENGINEERING COMPANY 8. THOMAS DEE ENGINEERING COMPANY'S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT 1057005, 5 1777-7.651128 Walsworth, Frankia, Bevins & MeCall, LLP AnrowSES 57 L40 PROOF OF SERVICE tam employed in the County of Orange, State of California. | am over the age of 18 and not a party to the within action. My business address is 1 City Boulevard West, Fifth Floor, Orange, California 92868-3677. On October 29, 2010, 1 served the within document(s) described as: ANSWER OF DEFENDANT THOMAS DEE ENGINEERING COMPANY TO PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT FOR PERSONAL INJURY - ASBESTOS on the interested parties in this action as stated below: BRAYTON PURCELL 222 Rush Landing Road. P. O. Box 6169 Novato, CA 94948-6169 X] (BY ELECTRONIC MAIL) | provided the documentfs) listed above electronically to the Lexis Nexis website pursuant to their instructions on that website. If the document is provided to Lexis Nexis electronically by 5:00 p.m., then the document will be deemed served on the date that it was provided to Lexis Nexis, Executed on October 29, 2010, at Orange, California. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct. Carlos Vega /S/ CARLOS VEGA (Type or print name) (Signature) -9- THOMAS DEE ENGINEERING COMPANY'S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFF'S COMPLAINT 1057005, 1777-76511