Judge Denies Summary Judgment Motion On Limitations Grounds

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A state court judge has denied several benzene defendants' motions for summary judgment based on grounds that the statute of limitations had run on the plaintiffs' wrongful death claims. Mathison, et al. v. BP Corp., et al., No. 04CV230761 (Mo. Cir. Ct., Jackson Cty.).

In a one-page order issued May 25, Judge Marco Roldan denied the defendants' motion for summary judgment. Sources indicated that the case is one of 20 benzene cases filed in the Missouri Circuit Court for Jackson County, the first of which is set for trial August 22 (Ryan v. BP Corp., et …