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March 13, 2009 |
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ASBESTOS LITIGATION: Suits Ongoing v. Crown Cork in Texas Courts Crown Holdings, Inc.'s subsidiary, Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc., is still a defendant in asbestos-related lawsuits in Texas courts. In June 2003, the State of Texas enacted legislation that limits the asbestos-related liabilities in Texas courts of companies like Crown Cork that allegedly incurred these liabilities because they are successors by corporate merger to companies that had been involved with asbestos. The Texas legislation, which applies to future claims and pending claims, caps asbestos-related liabilities at the total gross value of the predecessor's assets adjusted for inflation. Crown Cork has paid significantly more for asbestos-related claims than the total adjusted value of its predecessor's assets. In May 2006, the Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals upheld a grant of summary judgment to Crown Cork and upheld the state constitutionality of the statute (Barbara Robinson v. Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc., No. 14-04-00658-CV, Fourteenth Court of Appeals, Tex.). The Appeals Court decision has been appealed by the plaintiff to the Texas Supreme Court. A favorable ruling for summary judgment in an asbestos case pending against Crown Cork in the district court of Travis County, Tex., (in Re Rosemarie Satterfield as Representative of the Estate of Jerrold Braley Deceased v. Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc., No. 03-04-00518-CV, Texas Court of Appeals, Third District, at Austin, Tex., has been reversed on appeal on state constitutional grounds due to retroactive application of the statute. Although the Company said it believes that the Texas legislation is constitutional, there can be no assurance that the legislation will be upheld by the Texas Supreme Court on appeal. Headquartered in Philadelphia, Crown Holdings, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells packaging products for consumer goods. Products include steel and aluminum cans for food, beverage, household, and other consumer products and metal vacuum closures and caps. At Dec. 31, 2008, the Company operated 139 plants along with sales and service facilities throughout 41 countries and had about 21,300 employees. |
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