Dassig v. Honeywell International, Inc., 3:21-cv-00485

Plaintiff Theresa Bass sued Honeywell International for wrongful death and related claims following her husband's death, allegedly connected to radiation exposure from Honeywell's facility in Metropolis, Illinois.
Decedent Craig Bass had lived near the facility for ~50 years and was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2014 and liposarcoma in 2020, dying in 2021 from complications related to his cancer.
In June 2018, Decedent engaged a law firm to explore potential claims against Honeywell, including filling out paperwork implicating exposure to radioactive materials from the facility.
Plaintiff's attorneys and experts began environmental sampling and investigations in 2019-2020; results confirming environmental radioisotope concentrations came in 2020.
The lawsuit was filed on January 3, 2023, over four years after Decedent's initial legal consultation and environmental questionnaires.
Defendant Honeywell moved for summary judgment based on the expiration of Illinois’ two-year statute of limitations, which Bass opposed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
When did the statute of limitations begin?	Did not know/could not know of wrongful cause until actual harm was confirmed.	Started upon Decedent’s 2018 engagement of counsel and questionnaires.	The limitations period began by June 2018.
Applicability of discovery rule	Not enough facts to trigger inquiry until environmental results and expert findings.	Decedent knew enough by initial law firm visit to trigger duty.	Discovery rule triggered at initial engagement in 2018.
Applicability of fraudulent concealment/equitable estoppel	Honeywell concealed evidence so period should be extended.	No evidence of affirmative concealment or acting to prevent suit.	No evidence of concealment or estoppel found.
Survival and wrongful death claim viability	Claims should survive if not barred at decedent’s death and filed timely after.	Decedent’s personal injury claim was barred before his death.	No viable survival or wrongful death claim remains.

Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317 (summary judgment standard)
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242 (summary judgment evidentiary threshold)
Lawrence v. Kenosha County, 391 F.3d 837 (resolving doubts against movant in summary judgment)
Stark v. Johnson & Johnson, 10 F.4th 823 (Illinois discovery rule for limitations period)
Castello v. Kalis, 816 N.E.2d 782 (trigger for discovery rule under Illinois law)
Beetle v. Wal-Mart Assocs., Inc., 761 N.E.2d 364 (wrongful death action limitations principles)
Hagney v. Lopeman, 147 Ill. 2d 458 (fraudulent concealment standard)
Hollander v. Brown, 457 F.3d 688 (equitable estoppel limitations principles)