Opinion

Brisboy v. Fibreboard Corp.

  • 429 Mich. 540
  • 418 N.W.2d 650
Court
Michigan Supreme Court
Filed
Jan 25, 1988
Status
Published
Author
Archer
On the bench
Riley, Levin, Brickley, Boyle, Griffin, Cavanagh
Cited by
87 cases

affirming the jury’s determination that the decedent’s smoking habit, as well as his exposure to the defendant’s asbestos, were both proximate causes, fifty-five and forty-five percent respectively, of the decedent’s lung cancer and subsequent death, and remanding the case to the trial court for the appointment of damages *576 in accordance with such determination

How later courts described this case

  • affirming the jury’s determination that the decedent’s smoking habit, as well as his exposure to the defendant’s asbestos, were both proximate causes, fifty-five and forty-five percent respectively, of the decedent’s lung cancer and subsequent death, and remanding the case to the trial court for the appointment of damages *576 in accordance with such determination
  • the victim's contributory negligence was no defense to criminal negligence
  • permitting apportionment of damages in a wrongful death action based on smoking history and asbestos exposure
  • “A cause may be proximate although it and another cause act at the' same time or in combination to produce the occurrence.”

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

*557 Archer, J.

(concurring in part and dissenting in part.) I agree with the majority’s finding that the trial court and the Court of Appeals were correct in rejecting defendant’s motion for directed verdict.

As to part m, I do not agree with the majority’s analysis and the pronouncements stated therein. Therefore, I concur in the result only. It is appropriate to remand this case to the trial court for entry of judgment and apportionment of damages.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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