MATTER OF JOHNS-MANVILLE ASBESTOSIS CASES
516 F.Supp. 375 (1981)
United States District Court, N. D. Illinois, E. D.
May 15, 1981.
Indeed, that construction is fully consistent with the use of the term "right," which in both Hohfeldian and common usage attaches to a party asserting, not a party defending, a claim. Just as the term "liability" refers to obligations owed by the dissolved corporation, so "right or claim" must refer to obligations owed to that corporation. In each instance the term relates to the dissolved corporation itself, not to its adversary.4 Thus Singer & Talcott retains its full vigor as to post-dissolution liabilities of a corporation. And in those terms it spoke in terms of "those whose rights had accrued against the corporation ..." (emphasis added). That language in turn invokes the concept of "accrual" of indemnification actions, which as already discussed is fatal to Hooker's claims.
This Court's reading of Section 94 is supported by the most recent Illinois decision applying the statute. In Blankenship v. Demmler Mfg. Co.,89 Ill.App.3d 569, 44 Ill.Dec. 487, 411 N.E.2d 1153 (1st Dist. 1980) plaintiff had purchased a machine from the corporate defendant before its dissolution but brought a strict liability action for an injury that occurred more than two years after dissolution. Plaintiff's claim was rejected, 89 Ill.App.3d at 574, 411 N.E.2d at 1156-57: Since a cause of action based on strict liability accrues at the time of the injury [citation omitted], the time period provided in the survival statute had expired several years before the plaintiff's claim
even arose. In the absence of a statute permitting a cause of action which accrues after dissolution to be brought against a dissolved corporation, plaintiff has no valid cause of action ... Like the purchase of a defective machine in Blankenship, plaintiffs' actions against Hooker in the Asbestosis Cases present only a potential injury. North American cannot incur any liability until it is first known whether Hooker's indemnity action will accrue. Accordingly Hooker's claims against North American must be dismissed.
CassiarCassiar contends that under the Illinois contribution statute (Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 70, §§ 301 et seq.) an action for contribution accrues before any judgment has been entered:
1. This opinion is applicable to and entered in the following cases: Hooker's third party complaints in McDaniel (77 C 3534) and Aiken (79 C 1382); Hooker's crossclaims in Baker (80 C 11), Biga (80 C 10), Bruce (79 C 4965), V. Cole (79 C 5340), Fernandez (80 C 2629), Lewis (79 C 5335), Maglio (79 C 4951), Ostrowski (80 C 1195), Pitts (79 C 5338), Wells (79 C 5336); and Cassiar's third party complaints in Aiken (79 C 1382) and Guillen (78 C 866). Cassiar had in addition filed a third party complaint against North American in Lonergan (78 C 2562), but this Court has since granted summary judgment for Cassiar in that case. If any of the parties finds this opinion either inapplicable to any of the listed cases or applicable to other cases, appropriate notices should be served on the Court and opposing counsel.
2. North American contends that the crossclaim in Fernandez (80 C 2629) was not filed within two years after its dissolution. Although Hooker disputes that assertion, given this Court's interpretation of Section 94 it is not necessary to address the issue.
3. Hooker's statutory interpretation arguments, predicated on the need to give every word in a statute meaning and the presumption that legislators "know the meanings of words and the rules of grammar," thus actually support the position stated in this opinion. As stated in the text, the operative principle is an application of reddendo singula singulis. 2A C. Sands, Sutherland's Statutes and Statutory Construction § 47.26 (4th ed. 1973).
4. Hooker's own references to the term "right" in its memorandum again support the analysis in this opinion rather than its own arguments. Hooker cites Lasko v. Meier, 394 Ill. 71, 75, 67 N.E.2d 162, 165 (1946) for the proposition that "a right is a component part of a cause of action," and In re Wynn's Estate, 311 Ill.App. 190, 196, 35 N.E.2d 702, 705 (2d Dist. 1941) for the proposition that "a right is a power or privilege to which one is entitled by law." It seeks to argue that its "right," not North American's, existed at the time of dissolution — a position that does not comport with either the statutory framework or the normal construction of the statutory language.