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

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 case does not commence until there has been damage in the form of contamination.

In our case, respondent W.R. Grace & Company-Connecticut (Grace) obtained a summary judgment and dismissal of an asbestos-in-building action filed by appellant San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). The trial court denied SFUSD’s motion for reconsideration of its conclusion that the action was barred by the statute of limitations. On appeal from both rulings, SFUSD contends (1) that the trial court erred in finding that the limitations period commenced on discovery of the mere presence of asbestos in its…