Dresser Industries, Inc. v. Lee

COLLEY, Justice.

This is a strict products liability case. Plaintiff/appellee Arthur B. Lee, an employee of Tyler Pipe Industries, Inc. from 1964 to 1972, became unable to work in 1985 due to a debilitating lung disease diagnosed as “silicosis.” It is undisputed that such disease was brought on by inhalation of tiny particles of air-borne silica, referred to herein as “silica flour,” which embeds itself in lung tissue, ultimately inducing the fibrotic lung disease known as silicosis.

It is likewise undisputed that Tyler Pipe is an employee-subscriber to workers’ compensation insurance, and that…