ELR Citation: ELR 20253
No(s). 08-02742 (N.D. Cal. Oct 21, 2009)

A district court denied in part and granted in part a disposal waste facility's motion to dismiss individuals' tort claim against it as untimely. Genuine issues of material fact preclude summary judgment on the ground that the individuals should have known the cause of their injuries based on widespread publicity. Although there was widespread publicity of the contamination, the individuals testified that they were not exposed to this publicity. The court cannot make credibility determinations at the summary judgment stage, and must draw all inferences in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs since they are the non-moving party. In addition, except for one of the individuals, the facility was unable to show that the individuals had actual knowledge of the potential link between the facility and their alleged injuries several years earlier than they claim to have discovered the link. Therefore, except for the one individual who had actual knowledge, the company's motion to dismiss the claims as time barred was denied.