The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has thrown out an $8 million jury verdict against BNSF Railway Co., ruling that the railroad cannot be held strictly liable under Montana law for transporting asbestos-laced vermiculite through Libby, Montana.
In a decision issued Tuesday, a three-judge panel determined that Montana’s “common carrier exception” shields BNSF from strict liability claims tied to its shipment of vermiculite mined by W.R. Grace & Co.. The ruling reverses a 2024 trial court judgment awarding $4 million each to the estates of Thomas E. Wells and Joyce H. Walder, two former Libby residents who died in 2020 from mesothelioma.
The case marked the first community-exposure asbestos lawsuit over BNSF’s Libby operations to proceed to trial, despite hundreds of similar personal injury claims filed over the years.
Court’s Reasoning
Montana law allows strict liability for “abnormally dangerous activities.” In a 2020 decision, Montana Supreme Court held in BNSF Railway Co. v. Eddy that transporting vermiculite concentrate qualified as such an activity. However, that same ruling recognized a “common carrier exception,” barring strict liability when a company engages in an activity pursuant to a public duty as a common carrier.
