Calif. Appellate Court Reverses Trial Court, Allows Loss of Consortium Claim

LOS ANGELES –– A California appellate court has reversed the decision of a trial court to dismiss a loss of consortium claim, concluding that the court should have looked at the time of diagnosis, not the time of exposure, in evaluating the validity of the cause of action. Vanhooser v. The Superior Court of Los Angeles County, et al., No. B239677 (Calif. 2nd App. Dist., Div. 3).

In the June 1 opinion, the California Second District Court of Appeals found that in order to succeed on its motion for summary judgment, the defendant had to establish that the marriage in …