Brewster v. Colgate-Palmolive Co.

Opinion of the Court by

Chief Justice MINTON.

I. INTRODUCTION.

Decades after working on projects in various premises owners’ buddings, an independent contractor’s employee developed asbestosis, the cause of which the employee claimed arose from exposure to asbestos while working in the various buildings. Assuming that asbestos exposure occurred on the premises as the employee claimed, under what circumstances can the premises owners be held liable for the employee’s disease? Did the owners have a duty to warn of the presence and potential dangers of asbestos, which at one time was used…