The California Supreme Court protected manufacturers from liability in a high-stakes asbestos case...foreclosing a potential avenue of recovery for plaintiffs. The case drew a variety of amici curiae, including giant manufacturing firms that worried a decision favorable to plaintiffs would expand strict products liability and raise broader implications about the meaning of a defective product...While California law has long said manufacturers have a duty to ensure the safety of their products, wrote Justice Carol Corrigan for the unanimous court, the broad rule that the plaintiffs pushed for "would represent unprecedented expansion" of strict products liability...At issue was whether manufacturers of equipment used on U.S. Navy warships could be held liable for asbestos-related injuries and death because their products were routinely used with products made of asbestos. The plaintiffs in the wrongful death suit are the family of former naval officer Patrick O'Neil, who died of mesothelioma in 2004 when he was 62.[refers to Crane Co]