On December 18, 2015, the District Court of Lincoln
County in Oklahoma denied motions to dismiss a lawsuit over seismic damage
claims against two oil and gas companies. The companies alleged that the time
limit for filing the lawsuit had expired.
On August 4, 2014, Sandra Ladra, an Oklahoma resident,
filed a lawsuit with the Lincoln County district court against New Dominion LLC
and Spess Company to recover damages. She alleged that their wastewater
injection well activities triggered three earthquakes of great magnitude in
November 2011 and claimed that she was seriously injured by one of these
earthquakes.
In response to the motions to dismiss, Ms. Ladra argued
that “the statute of limitations was tolled until March of 2013 when [she] learned of the alleged
causal connection between the subject earthquake and the Defendants’ actions.”
The District Court overruled Defendants’ motions to dismiss holding that the
discovery rule exception extends the statutory deadline for filing a personal
injury lawsuit. The District Court however held that “the Defendants will be
allowed to re-urge the affirmative defense of statute of limitations in a
motion for summary judgment.”
Written by Chloe Marie - Research Fellow
01/04/2016
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