N.C. Court of Appeals Reverses Asbestos-Related Workers’ Comp Decision, Weighs in on Date of Last Injurious Exposure

RALEIGH, N.C. – A North Carolina appellate court has reversed an opinion of the state's Workers' Compensation Full Commission panel, concluding that the date on which the plaintiff was last injuriously exposed is calculated by determining that exposure that proximately augmented the disease to any extent, however slight.

In the Sept. 9 decision, the North Carolina court said that since the plaintiff in the underlying case has mesothelioma and not asbestosis or silicosis, the standard for determining the last injurious exposure is not a period of 30 days.

Plaintiff James Norman Richardson filed a claim against his employer PCS …