Matter of Steinhardt v. Johns-Manville Corp. (1980)

Our plain-English summary of Matter of Steinhardt v. Johns-Manville Corp. (New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, September 26, 1980).

James McKee worked with a variety of asbestos products from 1944 to 1970. He developed breathing problems in 1970 and stopped working. In 1973 he was diagnosed with asbestosis and pulmonary fibrosis. He sued Johns-Manville and other companies in 1975 for negligence, strict products liability and breach of warranty. He died of mesothelioma in August 1979, and the executrix of his estate continued the case. The lower court dismissed some claims, and both sides appealed. The Appellate Division decided whether the negligence and strict liability claims were filed in time. The plaintiff conceded the warranty claim was time barred but argued the other claims were timely because they were brought within three years of discovering the condition. The court rejected that argument. It held that a claim accrues when the injury occurs, even if the injured person does not know of it. The injury happened when McKee inhaled the substances, no later than 1970. The court therefore dismissed the negligence claim and the strict products liability claim, which has the same limitations period, and dismissed the complaint.

We wrote this summary from the court's opinion with the help of AI. It is not the court's wording, and it is not legal advice. The full opinion is below.

The decision

• Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, 4th Dept.
• Decided: September 26, 1980
• Citation: 78 A.D.2d 577
• Stage: Appeal from motion to dismiss
• State: New York

Outcome. The Appellate Division modified the order and dismissed the complaint, holding the negligence and strict products liability claims time barred, so the defendants (Johns-Manville and others) prevailed over the executrix.

What the court held. A personal injury claim accrues when the harmful substance is inhaled, not when the injury is discovered, so the limitations period ran from the injury and not from the later diagnosis. Strict products liability claims sounding in tort carry the same limitations period as negligence.

Issues decided: Wrongful Death and Survival, Design Defect, Statute of Limitations.

The people and their exposure

• James McKee, Jr.: asbestosis, mesothelioma; died

The defendants

• Johns Manville Corporation (manufacturer)
• Unarco Industries, Inc. (manufacturer)

Later decisions citing this one

2 later decisions in our library cite this one:

• Consorti v. Owens Corning (New York Court of Appeals, 1995). The New York Court of Appeals answered the Second Circuit's certified question in the negative, so Frances Consorti had no loss of consortium claim against Owens-Corning, which prevailed on that question.
• Owens-Illinois v. Gianotti (Maryland Court of Special Appeals, 2002). The Court of Special Appeals affirmed the judgments for John Gianotti and his wife against Owens-Illinois, rejecting its challenges, and also rejected the Gianottis' cross-appeal over the reduction of their judgments for the Babcock & Wilcox default and settlement.

The court's opinion

The text below is Google Scholar's copy of the court's opinion, a public record. Numbers in brackets, such as [*921], mark where each page of the printed reporter begins.

78 A.D.2d 577 (1980)

In the Matter of Jeanne Steinhardt, as Executrix of James McKee, Jr., Deceased, Appellant-

Respondent,

v.

Johns Manville Corporation et al., Respondents-Appellants, and Unarco Industries, Inc.,

Respondent

September 26, 1980

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Fourth Department.

All concur, Callahan, J., not participating.

Present — Cardamone, J. P., Simons, Callahan, Doerr and Moule, JJ.

Order modified and, as modified, affirmed, without costs, and complaint dismissed.

Memorandum:

Decedent James McKee had been employed continuously working with a variety of asbestos products from 1944 until 1970. In 1970 he developed respiratory ailments and stopped working because of his deteriorating physical condition. In 1973 his condition was conclusively diagnosed as asbestosis/pulmonary fibrosis with a moderate degree of obstructive pulmonary emphysema, all of which relate to the asbestos which plaintiff had allegedly ingested over his years of employment. This action was commenced in 1975 and plaintiff served a complaint in which alleged causes of action for negligence, strict products liability and breach of warranty of fitness and merchantability. (In August, 1979 McKee died of mesothelioma — an asbestos related cancer and a substitute plaintiff continues the action.) Plaintiff concedes that the cause of action for breach of warranty was properly dismissed as time barred, but argues that the negligence and strict products liability causes of action were timely, having been commenced within three years of the discovery of his condition. Plaintiff's argument is without merit. "The injury occurs when there is a wrongful invasion of personal or property rights and then the cause of action accrues * * * the statutory period of limitations begins to run from the time when liability for wrong has arisen even though the injured party may be ignorant of the existence of the wrong or injury." (Schmidt v Merchants Desp. Transp. Co., 270 N.Y. 287, 300; see, also, Reis v Pfizer, Inc., 48 N.Y.2d 664; Thornton v Roosevelt Hosp., 47 N.Y.2d 780; Schwartz v Heyden Newport Chem. Corp., 12 N.Y.2d 212.) Here, the injury to plaintiff occurred when he inhaled the allegedly harmful substances, which was no later than 1970. Thus, the negligence cause of action was properly dismissed. Similarly, the cause of action for strict products liability sounds in tort and the period of limitations is the same as the period for negligence (Victorson v Bock Laundry Mach. Co., 37 N.Y.2d 395). Accordingly, the cause of action for strict products liability should also be dismissed.

Sources

• The opinion on Google Scholar
• New York asbestos laws
• New York asbestos exposure sites