 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Columbus Bd. of Edn. v. Armstrong World Industries8/17/1993
STRAUSBAUGH, Judge.
On March 30, 1984, the Columbus Board of Education ("board") filed suit in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas against twenty-eight named defendants, manufacturers of asbestos and asbestos-containing products. The complaint set forth various claims for relief, including negligence, fraud, breach of implied warranties, nuisance and strict liability in tort. The board sought to recover damages for the cost of abating the asbestos found in particular schools of the Columbus public school system. On February 25, 1986, the board amended its complaint and added Basic, Inc. as a defendant to the action. Eventually, thsboard dismissed all of the original defendants except Pfizer, Inc. ("Pfizer") and the newly added Basic, Inc. ("Basic"). The board also dismissed all but the strict liability claims.
Both Pfizer and Basic filed motions for summary judgment, each contending that the board's suit was barred by the applicable statute of limitations. The trial court granted Pfizer's and Basic's motions for summary judgment, stating that under the authority of Beavercreek Local Schools v. Basic, Inc. (1991), 71 Ohio App.3d 669, 595 N.E.2d 360, the board's cause of action accrued in 1978 and, therefore, the action was time-barred under R.C. 2305.09(D). The board (hereinafter "appellant") has appealed to this court, assigning a single error for our consideration:
"The trial court erred, as a matter of law, in entering summary judgment against plaintiff on the statute of limitations."
Appellant's suit is one for injury to property arising out of the presence of asbestos in Columbus public schools. Asbestos-containing materials were installed in Columbus public schools in the late fifties and early sixties. It is now known that asbestos is a carcinogen and can cause lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis, among other diseases. Adding to the insidiousness of asbestos is the fact that there is a latency period of approximately twenty to forty years between initial exposure and appearance of the disease.
According to the decision of the trial court and the record herein, appellant was first made aware of the potential danger of asbestos in mid-1978 through information from the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare ("HEW'), and news reports from the East Coast concerning sprayed-on asbestos in schools. In the fall of 1978, Stephen Vargo, head of the Department of Facility Planning for Columbus public schools, was contacted by Neil Marguard of the Ohio Industrial Commission and was offered assistance regarding the possibility of finding asbestos in Columbus public schools. Vargo then contacted appellant's supervising architect, who confirmed that certain schools did in fact contain asbestos.
In November 1978, thirteen Columbus schools were tested by Marquard and the Ohio Safety and Hygiene Division. Air and bulk samples of acoustical plaster in the ceilings were taken, and the results were positive for the presence of asbestos. On November 17, 1978, Vargo and Marquard had a conversation regarding the results of the tests. Vargo's notes from that conversation indicated that, based on the results of the tests, there was no immediate hazard. Portions of Vargo's notes stated that fiber counts were "low" and that one "can't even say [there was] any asbestos in air."
Marquard testified that he had not reached a conclusion as to the hazardousness of the asbestos found in the thirteen schools. In an affidavit, Vargo stated that he understood that the results showed no airborne asbestos fibers and, therefore he did not believe there was any hazard in 1978. Hence, he stated he had
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Ohio Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|