ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, November 4, 1995                   TAG: 9511070012
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

ASBESTOS VERDICTS SET ASIDE

A jury that awarded two asbestos workers $1.3 million each should have heard evidence that the workers' cigarette smoking might have contributed to their lung cancer, a federal appeals panel ruled Friday.

In a 2-1 decision, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set aside the verdicts against Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. and sent the case back to federal court in Wilmington, N.C., for a new trial.

Owens-Corning was among the asbestos manufacturers sued by James Jones, Samuel Culverhouse and their wives in 1990. Jones and Culverhouse developed lung cancer during more than 20 years of employment at a Babcock & Wilcox plant that manufactured industrial boilers insulated with asbestos.

A federal jury ruled in favor of the two men after U.S. District Judge W. Earl Britt refused to allow Owens-Corning to argue a ``contributory negligence'' defense.

Owens-Corning claimed that because the men continued to smoke after the health hazards of cigarettes and asbestos became known, their own negligence contributed to their illnesses.

- Associated Press 


 by CNB