Products Liability Law Reporter

The Minnesota Supreme Court held that a plaintiff’s wrongful death lawsuit was untimely where it was filed more than six years after she learned her husband’s mesothelioma resulted from his asbestos exposure.

Gary Palmer was diagnosed as having calcium deposits on his lungs in December 2011. The following month, in January 2012, he was diagnosed as having mesothelioma resulting from asbestos exposure. Palmer died in March 2015. His wife sued Honeywell International, Inc., in February 2018, for his wrongful death. The plaintiff alleged that Palmer had developed mesothelioma because he had been exposed to asbestos-containing brake products sold by Bendix Corp. The defendant moved for summary judgment on limitations grounds, arguing that the plaintiff’s claims were barred because she filed suit after the six-year limitations period had expired. The trial court granted the motion, and an intermediate appellate court affirmed.

Affirming, the state high court noted that in Minnesota, plaintiffs must file a wrongful death suit within six years of the wrongful act or omission. The court added that a cause of action accrues and the limitations period begins to run under the applicable ‘some damage’ rule when some damage has occurred as a result of an allegedly negligent act. Citing case law, the court found that the plaintiff’s wrongful death claim accrued in January 2012, when Palmer knew that asbestos exposure was causally linked to his mesothelioma. Thus, the court held, the plaintiff’s lawsuit, filed more than six years after January 2012, is time-barred under state law.

Citation: Palmer v. Walker Jamar Co., 2020 WL 3552088 (Minn. July 1, 2020).