Idaho Company seeks law to limit its liability in asbestos cases Bottle-top maker says it has paid out about $700M in claims over many decades

By John Miller Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- A national bottle-top maker that's grown weary of some $700 million in asbestos claims it's paid out to victims of lung disease has arrived in the Idaho Legislature as part of its years-long, state-by-state trudge to shield itself from forking over more cash. Pennsylvania-based Crown Holdings, whose products include the tops of soda pop and beer containers, has gotten help from the American Legislative Exchange Council, a corporate-backed conservative nonprofit, to broaden limits on asbestos claims against it stemming from an ill-fated acquisition nearly 50 years ago. Together, they've succeeded in winning legislative protections in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Crown's liabilities stem from the asbestos-tainted assets of a small company it bought in 1963 for some $7 million. While Crown sold those assets just 90 days later, without ever manufacturing asbestos products, it's since then paid out 100 times the purchase price to people who have sued claiming their health was harmed, as well as their lawyers. "If Crown goes bankrupt because of the litigation, the current employees will lose their jobs, their health care benefits and their pensions," said Mark Behrens, a Washington, D.C. lawyer who advises the American Legislative Exchange Council and Crown, on Friday. Blocking Crown's path in Idaho, however, are lawyers who represent potential victims of asbestos disease. They are raising constitutional concerns, especially after courts in Texas and Pennsylvania struck down portions of laws as recently as 2010, for their provisions that sought to retroactively limit pending claims against Crown. The American Legislative Exchange Council has been criticized by the national trial lawyers association, the American Association for Justice, for helping to craft model legislation designed so narrowly that it benefits just a single company, Crown. Barbara Jorden, the Idaho Trial Lawyers Association lobbyist, said the Idaho Constitution forbids lawmakers from passing new laws that shield outfits like Crown from making good on their obligations. And that includes health problems linked to asbestos, a naturally-occurring material that until the 1970s was used commonly in insulation but which can lead to fatal diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer, or mesothelioma when inhaled. Attempts to shield corporations from billions of dollars' worth of asbestos damages have come and gone over the last decade, in the wake of lawsuits blamed for helping drive nearly 100 U.S. companies out of business since 1982. Michael Dunleavy, a spokesman for Crown, didn't immediately return a phone call seeking comment on Friday. Published: Wed, Feb 1, 2012