In an opinion filed on February 25, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, granted a defense motion in an asbestos-in-talc case ruling that the plaintiff failed to establish specific jurisdiction in the case.
The plaintiff had filed a complaint claiming that she developed mesothelioma after using Johnson & Johnson's Baby powder on herself, and her son, from the 1950s through 2015. The defendants included Cyprus Amax Minerals Company (Amax), Cyprus Mines Corporation (Cyprus), Imerys Talc America Inc. (Imerys), and J&J. The plaintiff claimed negligence, wantonness, and breach of warranty, in addition to the allegations that Imerys owned and operated a talc min in Alpine, Alabama, from 1979 to 2000. Imerys filed an affidavit, which stated it never directly sold talc to J&J and never mined in Alabama. The court pointed out that none of the arguments presented by the plaintiff proved J&J's conduct in Alabama and refused to establish personal jurisdiction of J&J for Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc.’s (JJCI) activity within Alabama. The Alabama jury also found that J&J did not have complete control over JJCI, and J&J issued another affidavit furnishing that J&J and JJCI are separate entities since 1979.
