Clarence Burd, Plaintiff-Appellant v. New Jersey Telephone Company, a New Jersey Corporation and Continental Oil…

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed the Appellate Division, holding that the statute of limitations began when the plaintiff either actually knew or, by reasonable diligence, should have known the factual basis linking the glue fumes to his heart attack, not when a lawyer informed him of a cause of action. The Court rejected the trial judge's view that the limitations period starts only after a plaintiff learns from counsel that the facts give rise to a legal claim. The decision was affirmed despite dissenting opinions that argued the plaintiff could not have discovered the causal link until October 1972.