WILLIAM DONALD SCHAEFER, Governor                   Ch. 624

BY adding to

Article - Courts and Judicial Proceedings

Section 5-112

Annotated Code of Maryland

(1984 Replacement Volume and 1986 Supplement)

Preamble

WHEREAS, As a matter of fundamental fairness, a cause of
action should not be deemed to have accrued until the date that
knowledge of the wrong upon which the action is based is
discovered or should be discovered; and

WHEREAS, Enactment of this Act will protect not only the
rights of injured parties but also the rights of those employers
who, but for enactment of this Act, might be deprived of the
ability to recover from a wrongful third party moneys paid to its
employees or dependents of the employees under the Workmen's
Compensation Act of Maryland; now, therefore,

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That the Laws of Maryland read as follows:

Article - Courts and Judicial Proceedings

5-112.

(A)  IN THIS SECTION "OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE" MEANS A DISEASE
CAUSED BY EXPOSURE TO ANY TOXIC SUBSTANCE IN A PLACE OF
EMPLOYMENT AND CONTRACTED DURING THE COURSE OF EMPLOYMENT.

(B)  AN ACTION FOR DAMAGES FOR A DEATH ARISING OUT OF AN
OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE SHALL BE FILED WITHIN 3 YEARS OF THE
DISCOVERY OF FACTS FROM WHICH IT WAS KNOWN OR REASONABLY SHOULD
HAVE BEEN KNOWN THAT AN OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE WAS A THE
PROXIMATE CAUSE OF DEATH, BUT IN ANY EVENT NOT LATER THAN 10
YEARS FROM THE DATE OF DEATH.                                                   

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall
be construed both retrospectively and prospectively, taking
effect July 1, 1987.

Approved June 2, 1987.

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