CBS prevails in Seventh Circuit products liability suit

Client(s) CBS Corporation

On November 30, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled in favor of Jones Day client, CBS Corporation, and reversed the district court's order that had remanded the products liability suit against CBS to Illinois state court. This unanimous, published decision is the first appellate precedent on the important question of whether asbestos exposure tort suits against federal government contractors may be removed to federal court, a question that had divided district courts across the country. The Seventh Circuit adopted Jones Day's argument that no presumption against federal jurisdiction was appropriate, and agreed that both the design-defect and failure-to-warn claims asserted by the plaintiff were removable because CBS has a colorable government contractor immunity defense to the claims under federal law.

Ruppel v. CBS Corporation, 701 F.3d 1176 (7th Cir. 2012)