NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
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No. 11-1986
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PHYLLIS H. KISER, Executrix of the Estate of Orvin H. Kiser, Sr., Deceased,
Appellant
v.
A.W. CHESTERTON CO., A Massachusetts Corporation; CRANE PACKING CO., An
Illinois Corporation formerly known as John Crane, Inc.; CROWN CORK & SEAL
COMPANY, INC., A New York Corporation; EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION, A
New Jersey Corporation formerly known as Mobil Oil Corporation; FOSTER
WHEELER CORPORATION, A New Jersey Corporation; GENERAL ELECTRIC
COMPANY, A New York Corporation; GENERAL REFRACTORIES COMPANY, A
Pennsylvania Corporation; GEORGIA-PACIFIC CORPORATION, A Georgia
Corporation; GOULDS PUMPS, INCORPORATED, A Delaware Corporation;
HARSCO INDUSTRIAL PATTERSON-KELLEY, A Division of Harsco Corporation as
successor to Patterson-Kelley Company. A Delaware Corporation; INGERSOLL-RAND
COMPANY, A New Jersey Corporation; JOHN CRANE, INC., Not a Virginia
Corporation; METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, A New York
Corporation; RAPID AMERICAN CORPORATION, A New York Corporation; RILEY
POWER, INC., A Massachusetts Corporation formerly known as Babcock Borsig Power,
Inc. formerly known as D.B. Riley, Inc. formerly known as Riley Stocker Corporation;
SEPCO, INC., Not a Virginia Corporation; TRANE U.S. INC., Successor in Interest to
American Standard Inc.; UNIROYAL, INC., A Delaware Corporation; CBS
CORPORATION, A Delaware Corporation formerly known as Viacom, Inc., Successor
by Merger to CBS Corporation, a Pennsylvania Corporation formerly known as
Westinghouse Electric Corporation (“Westinghouse”); WARREN PUMPS, LLC, Not a
Virginia Corporation; ZENITH PUMPS, Not a Virginia Corporation
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
(D.C. No. 2-11-cv-60039 & 01-md-00875)
District Judge: Honorable Eduardo C. Robreno
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Submitted Under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a)
March 26, 2012
Before: FUENTES, SMITH, and JORDAN, Circuit Judges
(Filed: April 11, 2013 )
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OPINION OF THE COURT
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FUENTES, Circuit Judge:
This asbestos personal injury case came before this Court on appeal from the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which dismissed the
action as time barred under Virginia law. Kiser v. A.W. Chesterton Co., 770 F. Supp. 2d
745 (E.D. Pa. 2011).
Recognizing that this appeal raised an important and unresolved question
concerning the accrual of a cause of action for injury from a latent asbestos-related
disease under the Virginia statute of limitations, on April 23, 2012 we entered an order
requesting that the Supreme Court of Virginia accept certification pursuant to Rule 5:40
of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia, and answer the following question of law:
Whether, under Va. Code § 8.01-249(4), a plaintiff’s cause of action for
damages due to latent mesothelioma is deemed to accrue at the time of the
mesothelioma diagnosis or decades earlier, when the plaintiff was
diagnosed with an independent, non-malignant asbestos-related disease.
The Supreme Court of Virginia accepted the certified question of law by order
entered June 8, 2012. On January 10, 2013 it issued an opinion, which was filed with this
court on April 3, 2013. For the reasons set forth by the Supreme Court of Virginia in
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Kiser v. A.W. Chesterton Co., 736 S.E.2d 910 (Va. 2013), we hereby affirm the decision
of the District Court, dismissing this action as time barred.
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