City of Boston v. United States Gypsum Co.

This is an action by the city of Boston and others to recover millions of dollars expended to maintain and ultimately to remove construction materials containing certain asbestos products manufactured by the defendants and installed in various public buildings throughout the city. The case proceeded to trial in three phases. 3 The instant appeal pertains to the manufacturers of surface treatment products, the so-called phase I. Four and one-half years after the initial complaint was filed, the phase I trial began in October, 1990. When the case went to the jury, only two of fifty-five…