The Supreme Court of Oklahoma recently issued its Mandate affirming the summary judgment granted by the District Court of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma and declining to grant Certiorari to the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals in a wrongful death case against Public Service Company of Oklahoma. Dorothy Hopkins had contended that mesothelioma, the fatal lung disease of her deceased husband, Morris Hopkins, was caused in part by exposure to asbestos products at PSO's Sand Springs Powerhouse in the early 1950s. Mr. Hopkins was employed in a contractor's work crew replacing asbestos insulation as a part of a rebuild of boilers and steam piping. PSO contended that the claim was barred by 12 Okla. Stat. §109, a statute of repose involving claims arising from construction of improvements to real property barring claims arising more than ten years after the completion of the improvement. This is the first appellate decision in Oklahoma upholding the statute of repose in favor of a premises defendant in an asbestos-related case. PSO was represented by G. Michael Lewis, Michael Minnis and McLaine Dewitt Herndon in the trial court and by appellate specialist Jon E. Brightmire in the Court of Civil Appeals and the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

See link for Supreme Court Mandate and Court of Civil Appeals Opinion.