MATTER OF JOHNS-MANVILLE ASBESTOSIS CASES
516 F.Supp. 375 (1981)
In the Matter of JOHNS-MANVILLE/ASBESTOSIS CASES.
No. 77 C 3534.
United States District Court, N. D. Illinois, E. D.
May 15, 1981.
Daniel S. Hefter, Hugh R. McCombs, Jr., William F. Murphy, Isham, Lincoln & Beale, John E. Passarelli, Clausen, Miller, Gorman, Caffrey & Witous, Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff.
C. Joseph Yast, Lord, Bissell & Brook, Chicago, Ill., for defendant.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDERSHADUR, District Judge.
North American Asbestos Corporation ("North American"), Hooker Chemicals and Plastics Corporation ("Hooker") and Cassiar Resources, Ltd. ("Cassiar") are among the numerous defendants in the Johns-Manville asbestosis cases consolidated for pretrial purposes (the "Asbestosis Cases"). Hooker has filed third party complaints and crossclaims against North American for indemnity. Cassiar has filed third party complaints against North American seeking contribution.1 North American has moved
to dismiss all such crossclaims and third party complaints. For the reasons stated in this memorandum opinion and order that motion is granted. On May 19, 1978 North American was dissolved as a corporation by the Illinois Secretary of State. All substantive questions in these diversity actions must be answered under Illinois law, including Ill.Rev. Stat. ch. 32, § 157.94 ("Section 94"):
The dissolution of a corporation ... shall not take away or impair any remedy available to or against such corporation, its directors, or shareholders, for any right or claim existing, or any liability incurred, prior to such dissolution if action or other proceeding thereon is commenced within two years after the date of such dissolution.
Each of the parties invokes the provisions of Section 94 — obviously advancing sharply different interpretations.
Hooker
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.