California Court of Appeal

In this tort action, plaintiff alleges that her birth defects were caused by in utero exposure to hazardous and toxic chemicals at defendant-employer. Dismissal on grounds that the actions was barred by the statute of limitations for pre-birth injuries in section 340.4 of the Code of Civil Procedure is reversed, where: 1) claims based on birth or pre-birth injuries that are due to exposure to hazardous materials or toxic substances are subject to the limitations period in section 340.8, which entitles plaintiff to tolling; and 2) there was delayed accrual until December 1998, and thus plaintiff was not barred under the six-year limitations period in section 340.4 when section 340.8 went into effect in January 2004, which then tolled the limitations period.

Appellate Information

• Decided 09/25/2014
• Published 09/25/2014

Judges

• Marquez

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel