Parties in Louisiana Benzene Case Exchange Briefing on Timeliness of Claims

NEW ORLEANS –– Plaintiffs with benzene claims pending in Louisiana have opposed a recent defense motion for judgment on the pleadings, saying their claims are not barred by the one-year prescriptive period in Louisiana.

In a May 20 motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, defendants Shell Oil Co. and Shell Chemical LP sought judgment on the pleadings, saying that the prescription period begins on the day the injury is sustained, which, in this case, was the plaintiff’s cancer diagnosis in 2008.

“Despite the fact that Plaintiffs were aware of the diagnosis in …