Court Opinion

ID: 9715433
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 06:05:41.294426+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:35.025479
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE SLATER, specially concurring: As I understand it, our decision today holds that the construction statute of repose applies to an installer of asbestos products to the extent that those products constitute an improvement to real property. The statute does not apply to the sale or distribution of asbestos products, however, even where those products are installed by the seller or distributor as an improvement to real property. Such a holding is consistent with the idea that application of the statute does not depend on a person’s status as a seller, manufacturer or distributor, but instead applies to the activities of design, planning, supervision, observation, management or construction. See People ex rel. Skinner v. Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, Inc., 114 Ill. 2d 252, 500 N.E.2d 34 (1986); State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. W.R. Grace & Co., 834 F. Supp. 1052 (C.D. Ill. 1993). Thus, any action against the defendant in this case based on installation of asbestos products may be time-barred, but the defendant can still be sued for activities related to the sale and distribution of those very same products. While such a result may seem unusual, it appears to comport with the language and intention of the construction statute of repose. I concur.