Horton v. General Electric Co.

Barney Horton, Jr., spent a decade and a half working with machinery and products that contained asbestos at the General Electric (GE) Appliance Park in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2024, after Mr. Horton was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer caused by his exposure to asbestos, he and his wife brought a lawsuit in Kentucky state court against GE and other defendants responsible for his exposure at the GE Appliance Park.

GE removed the case to federal court, invoking the federal-officer removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a)(1). GE asserted that it had a federal contractor defense because, during Mr. Horton’s service in the U.S. Navy, he spent time aboard a World War II-era ship that GE had supplied with turbines that may have contained asbestos. GE insisted that it would need to invoke a federal contractor defense to the Hortons’ claims, even though the complaint was expressly limited to Mr. Horton’s exposures within Kentucky, and even though the Hortons had expressly waived any claims arising out of exposure on any naval ships. The district court granted a motion to remand the case to state court, and GE appealed that order.

Serving as lead counsel for the plaintiffs on appeal, Public Citizen filed a brief explaining that, when evaluating jurisdiction under the federal-officer removal statute, the focus is on the conduct that the plaintiff chooses to challenge, not the nature of the injury that he has suffered.

Serving as lead counsel for the plaintiffs on appeal, our brief explains that, when evaluating jurisdiction under the federal-officer removal statute, the focus is on the conduct that the plaintiff chooses to challenge, not the nature of the injury that he has suffered. Applying that principle, the district court correctly concluded it lacked jurisdiction, because the lawsuit does not challenge any GE conduct that might have led to Mr. Horton’s exposure aboard a Navy ship.