Richie

—On plaintiffs Michael and Lynn Richie’s 1 action for personal injuries, the trial court entered judgments for defendants Bridgestone/ Firestone, Inc., Wagner Electric Corporation and Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc. The trial court also awarded sanctions to Bridgestone and Wagner. In consolidated appeals from the judgments and the sanctions order, appellant Lynn Richie contends that (1) the nonsuits granted to Wagner and Bridge-stone/Firestone are no longer valid after our decision in Wheeler v. Raybestos Manhattan (1992) 8 Cal.App.4th 1152 [ 11 Cal.Rptr.2d 109 ] (Wheeler); (2) the sanctions order should be reversed; and (3) the trial court erred by *337 granting Kaiser Gypsum’s motion for directed verdict. We agree that Wheeler applies retroactively and so reverse the judgments for Bridgestone/ Firestone and Wagner, as well as the related sanctions order, and remand these matters to the trial court. We affirm the judgment entered after Kaiser Gypsum’s directed verdict.

I. Facts

Michael Richie worked as a mechanic and a carpenter for various employers from 1966 to 1968 and from 1971 to 1991. He later contracted asbestosis. In June 1991, Michael Richie and appellant Lynn…

leagues’ affirmance of the judgment entered after Kaiser Gypsum’s directed verdict. However, I dissent from their reversal of the judgments entered in favor of Bridgestone/Firestone and Wagner. I respectfully suggest the trial court was correct in granting nonsuit on the third cause of action for enterprise liability. My dissent is not based on an analysis of whether or not Wheeler v. Raybestos-Manhattan (1992) 8 Cal.App.4th 1152 [ 11 Cal.Rptr.2d 109 ] (Wheeler) should be applied retroactively; rather, it is based on my firm belief that Wheeler itself was wrongly decided. My colleagues in the majority correctly observe that the parties herein do not challenge Wheeler , and Wheeler successfully withstood petition for review in our Supreme Court. *342 However, the denial of review is not an expression by our Supreme Court of the correctness of Wheeler, 1 and I cannot in good conscience debate the retroactivity of an opinion wrongly decided, even if the parties do not take issue. Wheeler is not only contrary to all well-established authority, but it is not soundly reasoned. Liability for injury caused by exposure to asbestos brake products should not be subject to the market share…

[Opinion certified for partial publication. [*] ]

OPINION

REARDON, J.

On plaintiffs Michael and Lynn Richie's [1] action for personal injuries, the trial court entered judgments for defendants Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., Wagner Electric Corporation and Kaiser Gypsum Company, Inc. The trial court also awarded sanctions to Bridgestone and Wagner. In consolidated appeals from the judgments and the sanctions order, appellant Lynn Richie contends that (1) the nonsuits granted to Wagner and Bridgestone/Firestone are no longer valid after our decision in Wheeler v. Raybestos Manhattan (1992) 8 Cal. App.4th 1152 [ 11 Cal. Rptr.2d 109 ] ( Wheeler ); (2) the sanctions order should be reversed; and (3) the trial court erred by granting Kaiser Gypsum's motion for directed verdict. We agree that Wheeler applies retroactively and so reverse the judgments for Bridgestone/Firestone and Wagner, as well as the related sanctions order, and remand these matters to the trial court. We affirm the judgment entered after Kaiser Gypsum's directed verdict.

Michael Richie worked as a mechanic and a carpenter for various employers from 1966 to 1968 and from 1971 to 1991. He later contracted asbestosis.…