San Francisco Unified School District v. W.R. Grace & Company-Connecticut

Opinion

REARDON, J.

When a building is constructed with asbestos-containing materials, does a property owner’s cause of action for strict liability or negligence accrue on the owner’s discovery of the mere presence of asbestos in the building or when asbestos contamination occurs? In this case, we hold—consistent with the vast majority of other jurisdictions that have considered this issue—that the owner of a building containing asbestos cannot state a cause of action in tort against an asbestos manufacturer until contamination occurs. Thus, the statute of limitations in an asbestos-in-building…