Ind. High Court: Asbestos Installation, Removal Not Improvement to Real Property

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s 10-year construction statute of repose may not bar negligence claims asserted by a plaintiff whose alleged exposure resulted from a contractor’s installation and removal of asbestos at an Alcoa plant. Gill v. Evansville Sheet Metal Works Inc., No. 49S05-1111-CV-672 (Ind. Sup. Ct.).

In a June 25 decision, the state’s highest court reversed an award of summary judgment to Evansville Sheet Metal Works Inc., determining that the company failed to show that the act of installing and removing asbestos constitutes and improvement to real property for the purpose of applying …