Opinion ID: 561821
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Virginia Law

Text: 30 Absent the application of general admiralty and maritime jurisdiction, Cochran's claims can survive only if they were timely filed under Virginia law. 4 In Virginia, a cause of action accrues at the time the damage occurs. Locke v. Johns-Manville, 221 Va. 951, 275 S.E.2d 900 (Va.1981). Cochran testified at trial that he started attributing his lung problems to his duties on the hangar deck as early as 1973 when he requested a transfer to the laundry room. The Navy honorably discharged Cochran in 1974. Additionally, medical examination records show that Cochran's lung disease has not changed since 1975. Consequently, under Virginia law, Cochran's cause of action accrued at the latest in 1974, and the two-year statute of limitations barred Cochran' claims as of 1976. 31 Cochran relies, however, on the 1985 amendment to the Virginia code which recognizes the long latency period of asbestos-related diseases and thus provides: 32 Actions for injuries to the person resulting from exposure to asbestos or products containing asbestos, when a diagnosis of asbestosis, interstitial fibrosis, mesothelioma or other disabling asbestos-related injury or disease is first communicated to the person or his agent by a physician. 33 Va.Code Sec. 8.01-249(4) (1985). Using this provision, Cochran argues that he was not told of his asbestos-related lung problems until 1987. Therefore, his cause of action was timely filed under the Virginia statute in 1987. 34 We note that only two of the companies involved, Palmer International and American Abrasive Metal Company, produced a nonskid covering containing asbestos. Thus, Cochran's lawsuit against the other companies, Devoe, Hoechst, and Grow, were not timely filed under the Virginia statute. Furthermore, Cochran cannot rely on Virginia Code Sec. 8.01-249(4) to extend the statute of limitations in this case against American Abrasive Metals and Palmer International. As stated earlier, Cochran's claim accrued as of 1974, eleven years prior to the enactment of Virginia Code Sec. 8.01-249(4). Although Virginia law offers no direct authority relating to cases such as Cochran's, a recent Virginia Supreme Court opinion questions whether section 8.01-249(4) should apply retroactively. Roller v. Basic Constr. Co., 238 Va. 321, 384 S.E.2d 323 (Va.1989). In Roller, the plaintiff filed a claim in 1983 under the workers' compensation statute following her husband's death from asbestosis. Plaintiff's husband was last exposed to asbestos in 1977, but was not diagnosed with occupationally-related asbestosis until 1983. In allowing plaintiff to apply Virginia Code 1950, section 65.1-52 retroactively, the court reasoned that in the workers' compensation setting, a statute of repose, such as section 65.1-52 would not extinguish a preexisting cause of action if applied retroactively. Roller v. Basic Const. Co., 238 Va. at 330, 384 S.E.2d at 327. Furthermore, the Virginia court stated: 35 In any case arising within the traditional tort system, a cause of action arose when alleged wrongful or negligent acts were done, even though rights of actions may not have vested in individual plaintiffs until a later time. 36 Roller v. Basic Const. Co., 238 Va. at 330, 384 S.E.2d at 327. Since Cochran's claims are within the traditional tort system, Virginia law would not apply a statute of repose, such as section 8.01-249(4) retroactively to his claims. Accordingly, Cochran's reliance on this statute is misplaced, and the district court correctly granted the companies' motions for summary judgment.