Louisiana Federal Court Denies Challenges to Timeliness of Benzene Claims

NEW ORLEANS -- A federal court has denied a benzene defendant's motion for summary judgment on prescription grounds, but agreed with the same defendant's challenge to pre-death loss of consortium claims, according to a recent order. Cole, et al. v. Ashland Chemical Inc., et al., No 09-6584 (E.D. La.).

In the Nov. 30 opinion, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana found that questions relating to whether the two benzene plaintiffs knew that their injuries may have been caused by benzene exposure were better left for a jury to decide.

Marvin Weeks and Beverly Neeley, who …