The court gave guidance on when an injury passes from being de minimis to being sufficiently significant to found a cause of action: ‘there is from the beginning some injury occurring from day to day, as each of the minute particles which enter the lung tissue causes some microscopic injury and permanent scarring, but a reasonable application of the de minimis rule postpones the first damage for legal purposes to the point at which the accumulated scarring is sufficient to diminish appreciably the elasticity of the lungs and deprive them of much of their reserve capacity; that point is not likely to be reached for several years, and may not be reached for many years, but when it is reached there is the damage completing the cause of action . . ‘
Judges:
Pearson LJ
Citations:
[1962] 1 QB 189
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Rothwell v Chemical and Insulating Co Ltd and Another CA 26-Jan-2006
Each claimant sought damages after being exposed to asbestos dust. The defendants resisted saying that the injury alleged, the development of pleural plaques, was yet insufficient as damage to found a claim.
Held: (Smith LJ dissenting) The . .
Appeal from – Cartledge v E Jopling and Sons Ltd HL 1963
The plaintiffs were steel dressers who, in the course of their employment, had inhaled quantities of noxious dust which had caused them to suffer from pneumoconiosis. They issued proceedings on 1 October 1956 but were unable to show any breach of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Personal Injury, Limitation
Updated: 12 April 2022; Ref: scu.238190