2018 WI 48 SUPREME COURT OF WISCONSIN CASE NO.: 2015AP829 COMPLETE TITLE: Penny L. Springer, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Nohl Electric Products Corporation, General Refractories Company, Dana Sealing Products, LLC, John Crane, Inc., Union Carbide Corporation, Rockbestos Surprenant Cable Corporation a/k/a Rockbestos Products Corp and RSCC Wire & Cable, Inc., Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC, Anchor Packing Company, Inc., Gaskets, Inc., Cincinnati Valve Company, Leslie Controls, Inc. and Trac Regulator Company, Inc., Defendants, Powers Holdings, Inc. and Fire Brick Engineers Company, Inc., Defendants-Respondents-Petitioners, Secure Horizons by United Health Care Insurance Company, Subrogated Defendant. REVIEW OF A DECISION OF THE COURT OF APPEALS Reported at 370 Wis. 2d 787, 882 N.W.2d 870 (2016 – Unpublished) OPINION FILED: May 15, 2018 SUBMITTED ON BRIEFS: ORAL ARGUMENT: October 2, 2017 SOURCE OF APPEAL: COURT: Circuit COUNTY: Jefferson JUDGE: William F. Hue JUSTICES: CONCURRED: DISSENTED: ABRAHAMSON, J., dissents, joined by A.W. BRADLEY, J. (opinion filed). NOT PARTICIPATING: ATTORNEYS: For the defendants-respondents-petitioners, there were briefs by George S. Peek, Eric D. Carlson, Benjamin A. Sparks, and Crivello Carlson, S.C., Milwaukee. There was an oral argument by Eric D. Carlson. For the plaintiff-appellant, there was a brief by Kathryn A. Keppel and Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin & Brown LLP, Milwaukee, with whom on the brief was Ronald G. Tays and Tays Law Office, Milwaukee. There was an oral argument by Ronald G. Tays. 2 2018 WI 48 NOTICE This opinion is subject to further editing and modification. The final version will appear in the bound volume of the official reports. No. 2015AP829 (L.C. No. 2010CV622) STATE OF WISCONSIN : IN SUPREME COURT Penny L. Springer, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Nohl Electric Products Corporation, General Refractories Company, Dana Sealing Products, LLC, John Crane, Inc., Union Carbide Corporation, Rockbestos Surprenant Cable Corporation a/k/a Rockbestos Products Corp and RSCC Wire & Cable, Inc., Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC, Anchor Packing Company, Inc., FILED Gaskets, Inc., Cincinnati Valve Company, Leslie Controls, Inc. and Trac Regulator Company, MAY 15, 2018 Inc., Sheila T. Reiff Clerk of Supreme Court Defendants, Powers Holdings, Inc. and Fire Brick Engineers Company, Inc., Defendants-Respondents-Petitioners, Secure Horizons by United Health Care Insurance Company, Subrogated Defendant. REVIEW of a decision of the Court of Appeals. Reversed. No. 2015AP829 ¶1 DANIEL KELLY, J. When one company purchases the assets of another, our law normally does not make the former responsible for the latter's liabilities. There are exceptions to that rule, however, such as when the parties use the transaction to fraudulently escape responsibility for those liabilities. Notwithstanding the great age of this common-law exception to successor non-liability, we have had scant occasion to provide guidance on how to recognize such transactions. We take the opportunity to do so today.1 Specifically, we conclude that the Wisconsin Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act does not govern the "fraudulent transaction" exception to the rule of successor non-liability, and so we reverse the court of appeals. I. BACKGROUND ¶2 Penny Springer's husband died in 2007 from mesothelioma. She believes his exposure to asbestos-containing products during his employment between 1963 and 1969 contributed ...
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