Whole Foods Market Group Inc. is pushing back against efforts to dismiss its $1 million asbestos lawsuit, arguing in the North Carolina Business Court that it has sufficiently alleged contract breaches by a shopping plaza owner and landlord that allowed asbestos to infiltrate one of its stores.
Represented by Thomas G. Hooper of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC, Whole Foods contends that it has detailed damages including lost profits, spoiled inventory, and significant mitigation costs. Hooper emphasized to Judge Julianna T. Earp that substantial evidence exists to support the claims, including documented communications between the parties involved.
The defendants, CBL-Friendly Center CMBS and Transform Lease OpCo LLC (Transformco), argue the blame lies with former landlord Sears Roebuck & Co., which filed for bankruptcy in 2018. They claim that any responsibility for asbestos removal was extinguished in the Section 363 bankruptcy sale and tied to a 2010 sublease agreement with Sears.
Whole Foods maintains that both defendants bear liability for the asbestos contamination, which it alleges resulted from redevelopment activities adjacent to the store. The grocer asserts that the work, authorized by Transformco, directly caused asbestos to enter the premises through a water leak and ceiling disturbance.
“This redevelopment project could not have proceeded without Transformco’s express authorization,” Hooper stated, accusing the company of using bankruptcy protections as both “a sword and shield” to avoid accountability while still collecting rent.
CBL-Friendly’s counsel, Andrew S. Chamberlin of Ellis & Winters LLP, counters that the claims are rooted in the historic sublease with Sears and that the alleged damages were unforeseeable. Both defendants deny direct responsibility, pointing to contractual limitations and the lack of specific allegations meeting the legal threshold for liability.
The case, Whole Foods Market Group Inc. v. CBL-Friendly Center CMBS LLC et al., case number 2025CVS5101, remains before the North Carolina Business Court as arguments over contractual obligations, liability, and damages continue.
