California Court of Appeal

California's one-year statute of limitations for personal injury will bar complaints against manufacturers and suppliers of various allegedly toxic chemicals and compounds, including product liability claims, where appellants had sufficient knowledge of injury for purposes of accrual of action; federal law governing the release of hazardous substances will not pre-empt California's statute of limitations.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/07/2002
• Published 05/07/2002

Judges

•  CURRY, J.

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
•  Law Offices of Raphael Metzger, Raphael Metzger, Long Beach, Ron Archer and Mark Julius, Pasadena, for Plaintiffs and Appellants Hector and Macrina Rivas and Hector Montiel.


• For Appellees:
  
• Arter & Hadden, Frederick J. Ufkes and William S. Davis, Los Angeles, for Defendant and Respondent Safety-Kleen Corporation., Stream & Stream, Inc., Theodore K. Stream, David D. Werner and Jamie E. Wrage, Riverside, for Defendant and Respondent Petro Source Refining Corporation., Prindle, Decker & Amaro and James G. Murray, Long Beach, for Defendant and Respondent Calsol, Inc., Steptoe and Johnson, Lawrence P. Riff and W. Chelsea Chen, Los Angeles, for Defendants and Respondents Chevron U.S.A., Inc., and Union Oil Company of California., Gordon & Rees, Roger M. Mansukhani and Brian Ledger, San Francisco, for Defendant and Respondent Kern Oil and Refining Co.