Watts

Filed 10/29/

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

CINDY J. WATTS,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

A166781, A167476

v. PNEUMO ABEX, LLC, (Alameda County Super. Ct. No. Defendant and Appellant.

RG19035791)

Watts studied automotive repair in college and, license in hand from the State of California, in 1983, at the age of 22, opened an automotive repair shop, a shop he operated until 2005. In 2019, Watts was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, and he and his wife, Cindy Watts, filed a lawsuit naming 28 defendants alleged to have manufactured or supplied asbestos-containing products.1 Eight more defendants were added via Doe substitutions. In the course of pretrial proceedings, 35 of the 36 defendants were eliminated by settlement or dismissal, and the case went to trial against the one remaining defendant—

1 For consistency with the briefing, we refer to Steven Watts as Watts and to

“Cindy” or “Mrs. Watts” in reference to Watts’s spouse. We also note that by order of October 15, 2024, Cindy L. Watts was substituted in as Successor in…