A North Carolina federal judge has struck down a bankruptcy court ruling that sealed evidence and testimony about gasket-maker Garlock Sealing Technologies' liability for asbestos injuries, Reuters reported yesterday. The "public and press have a co-extensive right to view and consider documents tendered" in court, said U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn, who reversed the sealing order and sent it back to the bankruptcy court for further consideration. Garlock, a subsidiary of EnPro Industries Inc., filed for chapter 11 in June 2010 as it faced personal injury claims related to its asbestos-lined gaskets used in industrial applications. Lawyers for plaintiffs argued that the figure should be more than $1 billion, but Garlock said that its liability was much lower and that the estimate was based on past settlements that were inflated by manipulated evidence and fraud. The case is Legal Newsline v. Garlock Sealing Technologies, U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, No. 13-464.
