La. Court Rejects Arguments that Benzene Complaint is Time-Barred

NEW ORLEANS –– A Louisiana federal court has denied attempts made by two Shell defendants to dismiss a benzene complaint as time-barred, ruling that it must accept the plaintiff’s argument that he did not find out the cause of his kidney cancer when it was diagnosed.

In the Oct. 29 order, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana denied the motions to dismiss filed by Shell Oil Co. and Shell Offshore Inc., who argued that the plaintiffs had not stated a claim upon which relief could be granted.

In their August motion, the defendants argued that …