Date of Last Exposure Marks Accrual of Asbestosis Claim, Court Says

MONTPELIER, Vt. - A former asbestos miner who developed asbestosis more than five years after his last day on the job isn't eligible for compensation under a statute of limitations that was in effect at the time, a state court has ruled. Sheltra v. Vermont Asbestos Group, No. 2002-116 (Vt. Sup. Ct.).

According to the Vermont Supreme Court's Feb. 19 opinion reversing a decision by the state Commission of Labor and Industry, Merriman Sheltra's cause of action against the Vermont Asbestos Group began accruing on the day he officially retired from the Eden, Vt., asbestos mines where he worked.

Sheltra …