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Appeals Court Upholds Dismissal Of Asbestos Suit

A divided Kentucky Court of Appeals has turned away a woman's bid for a new trial contending her husband died of exposure to asbestos while working and smoking at a factory that made cigarettes.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- A divided Kentucky Court of Appeals has turned away a woman's bid for a new trial contending her husband died of exposure to asbestos while working and smoking at a factory that made cigarettes.

The 2-1 decision issued Friday rejected an argument by Wanda McGuire that Lorillard Tobacco's practice of giving out asbestos-filtered cigarettes to employees in the 1950s resulted in his dying from mesothelioma.

McGuire contended that a Jefferson County jury received improper instructions about Lorillard's possible liability for giving employees the smokes.

Judges Laurence B. VanMeter and James H. Lambert said any error made in the instructions proved harmless when the jury found in favor of the cigarette company. Judge Joy A. Moore dissented, saying jurors could have concluded Bill McGuire's exposure to asbestos came from the cigarettes.

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