Spencer Knapp v. FAG Bearings, LLC, No. 22-1506 (8th Cir. 2023)
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Plaintiff suffers from multiple sclerosis. Nearly four years after his diagnosis, he and his wife sued FAG Bearings, LLC, alleging the company caused his condition by improperly disposing of trichloroethylene at a facility near his childhood home in Missouri. The district court entered summary judgment in favor of FAG Bearings after concluding the suit originated in Texas under Missouri’s borrowing statute and was time-barred under Texas law.
The Eight Circuit affirmed. The dispute centers on Missouri’s borrowing statute, which provides: “Whenever a cause of action has been fully barred by the laws of the state . . . in which it originated, said bar shall be a complete defense to any action thereon, brought in any of the courts of [Missouri].” Plaintiff unsuccessfully argued that his claim rose in Missouri. The court held that Plaintiff lived in Texas when he learned he may have a claim against the company. And, under Texas law, Plaintiff's claim was subject to a two-year statute of limitations. Thus, the district court did not error in finding Plaintiff's claim was time-barred.
Court Description: [Grasz, Author, with Colloton and Shepherd, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Torts. In action alleging plaintiff's prenatal and childhood exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE) from defendant's Missouri plant caused him to develop multiple sclerosis, plaintiff alleged causes of action for both negligence and strict liability; the district court correctly determined that plaintiff's claim originated in Texas in late 2017 as that was where he lived when he first developed symptoms and began to learn of a possible connection between MS and TCE exposure; under Missouri law a claim originated when a reasonably prudent person would have been on notice of a potentially actionable injury - see Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 516.190; under Texas law, plaintiff's negligence claim is subject to a two-year statute of limitations, and the suit was untimely; untimeliness under Texas law was a complete defense to this suit brought in Missouri, and the district court did not err in granting defendant's motion for summary judgment.
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