Gideon v. Johns-Manville Sales Corp.

ALVIN B. RUBIN, Circuit Judge:

This suit for personal injuries allegedly caused by the inhalation of asbestos fibers is one of 25,0001 pending in federal and state courts. After a ten-day trial, the jury returned a verdict against seven of the seventeen defendants originally named and fixed the compensatory damages at $500,-100. The judge reduced the amount of the judgment to reflect the effect of the settlement that the plaintiffs had reached with three of the original defendants.

The judgment entered on that verdict is based in part on one jury’s resolution of issues that are common to all or…