Bjoin v. J-M Manufacturing Co. (July 25, 2025, B335334) ___Cal.Rptr.3d___ (2025 WL 2437402)
Plaintiff brought a negligence and strict liability action alleging that his lung cancer was caused by dust generated from his use of a power saw to cut defendant’s asbestos cement pipe product. A jury found in favor of defendant and plaintiff appealed. The Court of Appeal affirmed, finding that plaintiff waived the majority of issues.
For example, plaintiff argued there was insufficient evidence to support the sophisticated user defense, but failed to set forth all the material evidence on the issue, both favorable and unfavorable. Plaintiff also claimed there was insufficient evidence to support the jury instruction and jury verdict on the product misuse defense, but plaintiff failed to provide a standard of review, failed to make any legal or factual argument demonstrating prejudice resulting from the error, failed to set forth and identify deficiencies in the evidence favorable to defendant, and failed to cite and analyze relevant law on the issue of sophisticated user.
Plaintiff also claimed error in the denial of his motion in limine to exclude evidence of the Cal-OSHA regulations in place at the time he was working with defendant’s pipes. But plaintiff failed to cite and apply the standard of review on appeal for determining prejudice from the erroneous admission of evidence, and, in particular, failed to show that defendant’s common law duty and standard of care differed from the standards under Cal-OSHA.
The decision in this case illustrates how disregarding the principles of appellate review can have drastic consequences.
