Johns-Manville Product Corporation v. Contra Costa Superior Court (Rudkin)

Reba Rudkin (plaintiff) worked for Johns-Manville Products Corporation (Johns-Manville) (defendant) for 29 years. Johns-Manville mined, milled, manufactured, and packaged asbestos, and Rudkin was continuously exposed to asbestos while he worked for Johns-Manville. Although Johns-Manville had known since 1924 that asbestos exposure was dangerous, Johns-Manville told Rudkin that working with asbestos was safe and did not provide any protective devices or comply with state and federal regulations governing dust levels. Due to asbestos exposure at work, Rudkin developed several asbestos-related diseases, including cancer. Rudkin filed a civil suit against Johns-Manville, asserting a claim for the intentional tort of fraud, alleging that Johns-Manville fraudulently concealed the danger of asbestos exposure from him. Rudkin further alleged that Johns-Manville engaged doctors to examine Rudkin and did not provide these doctors with information (1) about the hazards of asbestos exposure, (2) that Rudkin had pulmonary disease, or (3) that Rudkin’s disease was caused by his asbestos exposure at work. Rudkin also alleged that despite Johns-Manville’s knowledge that Rudkin’s disease was caused by asbestos exposure at work, Johns-Manville did not file a First Report of Occupational Injury or Illness. Rudkin alleged that he would not have continued to work with asbestos if he had known the risks and that his disease was aggravated because of Johns-Manville’s actions. Johns-Manville answered that Rudkin’s action was barred by workers’-compensation law and moved for judgment on the pleadings. The trial court denied the motion, and Johns-Manville filed a writ of mandate seeking to set aside the trial court’s order.