Henry Ruppel v. CBS Corporation

FLAUM, Circuit Judge.

Henry Ruppel filed suit against CBS in Illinois alleging CBS’s predecessor-in-interest, Westinghouse Corporation, caused the mesothelioma from which he currently suffers. Westinghouse had included asbestos in the turbines it supplied to the United States Navy, and Ruppel was allegedly exposed to it during his Naval service and later when he worked on an aircraft carrier as a civilian. CBS removed Ruppel’s suit to the Southern District of Illinois under the federal officer removal statute, which permits removal of certain suits where a defendant that acted under a federal…