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Grillo v. Speedrite Products5/22/2000
pile driving activities of defendant.). More recently, the supreme court has explained that " n a negligence action, the statute of limitations accrues at the time of the negligence or when the facts and circumstances would put a person of common knowledge on notice that there might be a claim against another party." True v. Monteith, 327 S.C. 116, 119, 489 S.E.2d 615, 616 (1997) (citing Kreutner v. David, 320 S.C. 283, 465 S.E.2d 88 (1995)). Under section 15-3-535, the statute of limitations is triggered not merely by knowledge of an injury, but by knowledge of facts, diligently acquired, sufficient to put a person on notice of the existence of a cause of action against another. Id. This is an objective, not a subjective, determination. Wiggins v. Edwards, 314 S.C. 126, 442 S.E.2d 169 (1994).
II.
Our courts have not addressed the application of the discovery rule in an analogous context. However, in the context of a latent occupational disease, the District Court for the District of South Carolina considered the application of the statute of limitations in Hinson v. Owens-Illinois Inc., 677 F. Supp. 406 (D.S.C. 1987). In Hinson, the district court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment. Recognizing that the development of asbestosis takes place over a period of time, the court looked at the information available to the plaintiff over a number of years concerning his exposure to asbestos material and his medical condition. Finally, the court concluded that, at the latest, as of the time the plaintiff underwent a CAT scan which positively revealed asbestosis, a person of common knowledge and experience would have been on notice that some right of his had been invaded.
The court rejected the plaintiff's argument that the statute of limitations did not begin to run until the date he received a definitive diagnosis of asbestosis, some two years after the CAT scan. Notably, however, the court rebuffed the defendants' contention that the plaintiff knew he suffered an actionable injury attributable to asbestos several years earlier when he was initially diagnosed by a physician with pulmonary emphysema and fibrosis. The physician expressed his opinion at that time that the pulmonary findings were due to asbestos exposure. The court concluded the physician had no proof that the pulmonary emphysema and fibrosis were caused by the plaintiff's exposure to asbestos. The court further concluded, viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, that the evidence indicated the plaintiff had no medical proof that his lung condition was due to his exposure to the defendants' products at that time, making initiation of a lawsuit premature. See generally Joel E. Smith, Annotation, When statute of limitations begins to run as to cause of action for development of latent industrial or occupational disease 1 A.L.R. 4th 117 (1980 and Supp. 1999).
In comparison to a latent disease case, where the cumulative effects of exposure may not manifest for a period of years, this case is distinguishable. Grillo experienced temporary symptoms or discomfort almost immediately upon exposure. He also associated his symptoms, at least to some extent, with the use of the Speedrite Ink shortly thereafter. However, it was a result of the additional prolonged exposure on December 14, 1992, that Grillo allegedly suffered permanent injuries for which he now seeks damages. Applying the discovery rule in this context, the determination to be made is when temporary symptoms become an "injury" from which the surrounding facts and circumstances should put a person on notice that a cause of action exists. See Snell v. Columbia Gun Exchange Inc., 276 S.C. 301, 333, 278 S.E.2d 333, 334 (1981) (" n injured
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