Opinion ID: 566810
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Application of the Revival Statute

Text: 17 We now turn to the merits of OCF's two motions. OCF submits that the revival statute does not restore plaintiff's claim and it thus should be dismissed under the applicable statute of limitations. We agree. 18 The revival statute reads in pertinent part: 19 § 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law ..., every action for personal injury, injury to property or death caused by the latent effects of exposure to diethylstilbestrol, tungsten-carbide, asbestos, chlordane or polyvinyl-chloride upon or within the body or upon or within property which is barred as of the effective date of this act or which was dismissed prior to the effective date of this act solely because the applicable period of limitations has or had expired is hereby revived and an action thereon may be commenced provided such action is commenced within one year from the effective date of this act; provided, however, that this section shall not revive any action for damages for a wrongful act, neglect or default causing a decedent's death which was not barred as of the date of the decedent's death and could have been brought pursuant to section 5-4.1 of the estates, powers and trust law, and provided, further that for any revived claim or action, including third party claims and claims for contribution pursuant to article fourteen of the civil practice law and rules for which a notice of claim is or would have been required by law as a condition precedent to the claim or action, a notice of claim shall not be required. 20 (emphasis added). The statute gives claimants an opportunity to revive time-barred tort claims arising from the latent effects of exposure to toxic materials. No one disputes that plaintiff met the initial requisites for bringing a claim under the statute: she brought this action within the applicable one year time period; the claim arose from exposure to asbestos; and the claim was time barred as of July 1, 1986, the effective date of the statute. Disagreement focuses instead on whether the italicized exception to the statute applies. Under the exception those actions that were not barred as of the date of decedent's death and could have been brought by decedent's representative under EPTL § 5-4.1, i.e., within two years of his death, may not be revived. 21 The exception requires a retrospective inquiry. We must revisit August 31, 1981, the date of Kulzer's death, and determine whether on that day a cause of action arising from his death would have been time-barred. At that time, there was a three year statute of limitations applicable to personal injury actions. See N.Y.C.P.L.R. § 214(5). Also at that time, a cause of action for exposure to toxic substances accrued on the last date of exposure to the toxic substance. See, e.g., Monte, 921 F.2d at 407 (citing Steinhardt v. Johns-Manville Corp., 54 N.Y.2d 1008, 446 N.Y.S.2d 244, 430 N.E.2d 1297 (1981), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 967, 102 S.Ct. 2226, 72 L.Ed.2d 840 (1982); Schmidt v. Merchants Despatch Transp. Co., 270 N.Y. 287, 200 N.E. 824 (1936)). Incorporating the above limitations period and the rule of accrual applicable on the date of Kulzer's death, the revival statute asks: Did Kulzer incur employment-related exposure to asbestos after August 31, 1978, in other words, within three years of his death? The district court answered this question in the negative, holding as a matter of law that when Kulzer became foreman [in January 1977] his duties drastically changed and he did not become meaningfully exposed to asbestos so it can be the proximate cause of his death. 22 The district court's application of the revival statute conflicts with our recent holding in Monte. There a lawsuit was brought under the revival statute on behalf of a decedent who was exposed to asbestos from 1938 through June 1945 and who died from asbestosis on November 26, 1947. Because the decedent's exposure continued within three years of his death, we affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment dismissing the complaint. Of particular significance to this case, we observed in Monte that there was no linkage between the accrual of a cause of action--the last date of exposure--and causation. We considered and rejected the argument that it would have been impossible for [the decedent's representative] to commence a wrongful death action because she could not have alleged ... that a few months of exposure had proximately caused decedent's death or shortened his life. 921 F.2d at 407. Thus, in Monte, even though only six months of the decedent's lengthy exposure occurred during the three year period before his death, we held that the exception to the revival statute applied and we barred a claim brought on his behalf because the last exposure was within three years of his death. Id. 23 As Monte makes clear, the revival statute does not alter the last date of exposure rule. It instead takes aim at the perceived inequities created by the New York courts' and legislature's reluctance in adopting a discovery rule for ascertaining when a cause of action for a long-tail disease like asbestosis accrues. Cf. N.Y.C.P.L.R. § 214-c (discovery rule enacted in 1986). The purpose of the revival statute is to provide relief where the latent effects of such exposure did not manifest themselves until many years after the date of last exposure. Monte, 921 F.2d at 408. For that reason the statute excludes claims that were not time-barred on the date of the decedent's death. Claims that could have been brought, because exposure continued within three years of death, lack the latency problem the statute sought to cure and thus are excepted from the statute's coverage. Since the last date of exposure rule remains intact, the application of the exception to the revival statute does not turn, as the district court held it did, on whether the decedent's last exposure(s) proximately caused his death. For this reason, as long as the decedent's employment-related exposure continued for as little as one day within the three year period preceding death, the statutory exception would apply, even though that one day of exposure came too late to have a significant impact on the preceding cumulative effect of the decedent's exposure. 24 The district court did not apply the exception to the revival statute in conformity with our recent holding in Monte. It improperly linked accrual with causation. Accordingly, its decision to reject OCF's motion to dismiss on this ground was error. 25 We also conclude that under the correct application of the revival statute OCF's motion for a directed verdict should have been granted. Parenthetically, our analysis of this question proceeds in the context of the evidence presented at the first trial; the exception was raised in OCF's motion for a directed verdict during the first trial and we assess it in that context. 26 In spite of Kulzer's diminishing exposure to asbestos during the 1970s, there is no material dispute that Kulzer was exposed to asbestos after August 31, 1978. Plaintiff claimed that her husband was so exposed in her complaint: 27 20. Plaintiff's decedent was employed by Eastman Kodak Company (Kodak) of Rochester, New York as a pipe coverer from the time of his initial employment in January of 1947 until his total disability from employment in July of 1980. 28 21. At all times herein, while working in his employment with Kodak, plaintiff's decedent used and was exposed to the asbestos and asbestos products of the defendant corporations and each of them. 29 22. At all times herein, plaintiff's decedent's use and exposure to the defendant corporations' asbestos and asbestos products caused him to inhale and ingest asbestos fibers, particles and dust from defendant corporations' asbestos and asbestos products. 30 23. As a result of working with and being exposed to the asbestos and asbestos products of the defendant corporations and each of them, plaintiff's decedent contracted an asbestos caused disease, mesothelioma, and other asbestos caused conditions. 31 (emphasis added). It is difficult to see why plaintiff should not be bound by her judicial admissions. The exception to the revival statute plainly appears in the one paragraph statute and directly follows the language that grants a one year opportunity to revive time-barred claims. Moreover, the complaint, like any other pleading, subjects both client and attorney to the truth-inducing sanctions of Rule 11. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 11 ([t]he signature of an attorney or party constitutes a certificate by the signer that the signer has read the pleading, motion, or other paper; that to the best of the signer's knowledge, information, and belief formed after reasonable inquiry it is well grounded in fact). 32 We might be less exacting if this were a trifling error in pleading. But it is not. Plaintiff asks us to disregard what may be the most critical component of a complaint brought under this statute--the facts bearing on whether the cause of action may be revived. Placed in this light, plaintiff's current stance has the ring of expediency to it. She offers no explanation for the pleading and she did not seek to amend the pleading until three years later, after the first trial had ended. See In re Joint Eastern & Southern Dist. Asbestos Litigation, 756 F.Supp. at 797 (rejecting attempt to modify answers to interrogatories, which had been made two and one-half years earlier and which admitted asbestos exposure within three years of death, and dismissing plaintiff's revival statute claim). 33 Our decision to dismiss the action on the basis of the exception to the revival statute is fortified by other evidence presented at the first trial. Medical evidence and the testimony of Kulzer's co-workers demonstrated that Kulzer continued to be exposed to asbestos after August 31, 1978. A July 7, 1980 Genesee Hospital record confirms that Kulzer was promoted to a supervisory role in 1971 but continues working directly [with] insulation material. Kenneth Hart, a co-worker of Kulzer's, testified that he and his crew, including Kulzer as crew foreman, ripped out old asbestos insulation at least through 1979 and that the paper masks worn by the employees did not keep out all of the dust. Another co-worker, William Helm, testified that asbestos removal continued through the 1978-1980 period and, as a foreman during that period, Kulzer was exposed to asbestos during his regular visits to the job sites. In her appellate brief, plaintiff implicitly acknowledges that Kulzer's promotion to foreman did not remove him completely from direct contact with his crew and their environment: As foreman [Kulzer] no longer worked covering pipes or in the field at all except occasionally to check on the workers under him. In sum, evidence showed that Kulzer's promotions did not completely remove him from employment-related asbestos exposure. 34 Measured against the above evidence and, most importantly, plaintiff's admissions in her complaint, OCF's initial motion for a directed verdict should have been granted. That this is the proper resolution of the action becomes even clearer if we place ourselves in the shoes of a court confronted with a claim brought on Kulzer's behalf within two years of his death. Consider, for example, if plaintiff had brought a wrongful death claim on August 30, 1983, to which the defendant had asserted a limitations defense. The court would have had before it evidence of some job-related exposure during the three year period before death and a defendant's judicial admission that such exposure occurred. Under those circumstances, there can be little doubt that the court would have flatly rejected a limitations defense. Because the revival statute requires us to ask and answer this very question, all the while leaving the last date of exposure rule unchanged, we are compelled to reverse the judgment and to direct that the complaint be dismissed. 35 Plaintiff's other argument merits only brief attention. Contrary to plaintiff's assertions, the factual allegations in the complaint and the second jury's finding that OCF was responsible for 40 percent of Kulzer's exposure also show that Kulzer was exposed to OCF's product, Kaylo, during the three years before his death. 36 Given our disposition of OCF's motion for a directed verdict, we need not reach the merits of OCF's other arguments or of Manville's cross-appeal.