Judge Denies Spoliation Sanctions, Stays Trial Pending Appeal

( May 2, 2024, 2:15 PM EDT) -- MISSOULA, Mont. — A federal judge overseeing a case involving BNSF Railway Co.’s handling of asbestos at the Libby, Mont., vermiculite mine denied the railway’s renewed motion for sanctions related to the failure to preserve the plaintiff’s remains and partially granted its request for bifurcated trial after a jury awarded $8 million to two individuals in a similar suit.  On May 1, the judge stayed the May 6 trial pending an appeal of that verdict....