Madison County's first civil trial - an asbestos case - since the COVID-19 pandemic began has ended in a settlement after one day of voir dire in Circuit Judge Stephen Stobbs' courtroom with modified procedures.
The asbestos trial involved plaintiff Beverly Pietrzyk, of Arizona, in a case against defendant J-M Manufacturing Company Inc.
Pietrzyk was represented by the Simmons Hanly Conroy firm in Alton.
J-M Manufacturing was represented by Manning Gross Massenburg LLP in O’Fallon.
Before the trial began, Trial Court Administrator Marla Davis spoke on behalf of the circuit court during the Judiciary Committee Meeting on June 4. Davis said the social distancing measures and capacity restrictions have made things difficult, but they were working through the challenges.
She said 120 jurors were expected at the courthouse at the start of the trial. In order to properly socially distance, the entire third floor of the courthouse was reserved for the trial.
She explained that the courtrooms on the third floor have varying capacities, so jurors were spread out.
“We’re using all four courtrooms on the third floor plus our jury assembly room to bring in 120 jurors,” she said.
“Logistically, it’s difficult,” she added, “but we’re getting there.”
Davis said the circuit court will only be able to conduct one trial at the courthouse at a time until restrictions are lifted.
Pietrzyk’s complaint was originally filed Oct. 24, 2019. Beverly Pietrzyk filed an amended complaint on May 22, 2020, following John Pietrzyk’s death.
The suit alleged Pietrzyk was exposed to asbestos while working as a laborer and heating technician from 1955 to 1995 at various locations in the U.S. As a result of his exposure, Pietrzyk became aware that he developed mesothelioma on Aug. 30, 2019. He died on April 14, 2020.
J-M Manufacturing filed a second amended motion for summary judgment on May 28 through attorney Matthew Sauerwein.
“JMM moves for summary judgment based on the simple fact that John Pietrzyk’s testimony does not create a reasonable inference that he worked with a product supplied by JMM,” Sauerwein wrote.
Sauerwein noted in the motion that J-M Manufacturing did not come into existence until 1983 and never manufactured any asbestos-containing products.
“JMM supplied A/C pipe and couplings manufactured by J-M A/C Pipe Corporation (JMAC) only during the time period 1983-1988. More importantly, the type of pipe at issue in this matter - air duct pipe - is not a product JMAC manufactured. JMM did not supply air duct,” he wrote.
The motion stated that prior to Pietrzyk's death, he testified that he was employed by North American Heating for 17 years from about 1974 to 1991 as a journeyman in the sheet metal trade.
North American Heating was an HVAC contractor that worked on furnaces, boilers, valves, pumps, duct connectors, pipe, gaskets and packing, and other equipment for residential and commercial settings around Chicago, Sauerwein wrote. The plaintiff testified that about 60 percent of his work was residential and 40 percent was commercial.
Of that work, Pietrzyk testified that 50 percent of the work was hands-on while 50 percent of his time was spent supervising others doing work similar to his duties at Sanders Heating. He claimed he never saw any warnings on any of the products or equipment he used while employed at North American.
Pietrzyk alleged that in the early 1980s, his role changed slightly when he began supervising the installation of “transite,” which was used for heating in custom-built homes due to a housing boom in and around the Chicago suburbs.
He testified that transite was a “round chalk-type cylinder.” When asked if he was referring to a pipe of some kind, he testified that “it’s like a pipe and the markings were like J-M on it.”
Pietrzyk testified that he worked on two to three houses per week from 1983 to 1988 as a journeyman.
Sauerwein wrote that the contractor or builder of the subdivision provided North American with a work order specifying and outlining the work that was needed and what products and equipment to use, including J-M Manufacturing pipe.
Pietrzyk testified that the transite weighed 20-25 pounds and came in 13-foot sections. The pipe was cut to size and sleeves were cut for the heat to circulate.
He added that the sleeves were cut using a skilsaw, which did not have ventilation. On average, it took about four hours to measure, cut and install the pipe.
Pietrzyk admitted that he was not taught how to properly lay or install the pipe and was unfamiliar with the snap cutters or the wet-down method, the motion states. He added that he was not aware if the transite he used was made of asbestos.
The defendant argued that if the court concludes that it did supply the product at issue, which it denied, the claims against it should be dismissed “because Mr. Pietrzyk’s employer was a sophisticated intermediary charged with constructive knowledge of the hazards associated with cutting ACP with a power-saw and, as such, is the responsible party for the dangerous acts engaged herein; the use of a power-saw on ACP was an illegal and reckless (and therefore unforeseeable) use of the product, which constitutes a superseding intervening cause of injury … and there is no evidence presented to date indicating that JMM failed to provide North American Heating with proper handling methods of JMM supplied pipe and/or warnings regarding improper use thereof.”
The defendant also argued that the plaintiff failed to provide evidence that it breached a duty to warn because Pietrzyk never worked hands on with any of the defendant’s pipes and it did place warnings on every piece of cement pipe it manufactured.
Pietrzyk’s complaint argued that his employer was not liable.
“Decedent and his immediate employer did not know and had no reasonable way to know or realize the risks of being exposed to asbestos and/or various ways and places in which asbestos was being used by defendants and each of them. Defendants and each of them should have anticipated that decedent and his immediate employer did not know and would not discover or realize the same,” the suit stated.
Madison County Circuit Court case number 19-L-1513