West Virginia Code 55-7I-3 – Applicability
(a) The limitations in section four of this article shall apply to a domestic corporation or a foreign corporation that has had a certificate of authority to transact business in this state or has done business in this state and that is a successor which became a successor prior to May 13, 1968, or which is any of that successor corporation’s successors, but in the latter case only to the extent of the limitation of liability applied under subsection (b), section four of this article and subject also to the limitations found in this article, including those in subsection (b) of this section.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 55-7I-3
- Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Corporation: means a corporation for profit, including:
(A) A domestic corporation organized under the laws of this state. See West Virginia Code 55-7I-2
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- Successor: means a corporation that assumes or incurs, or has assumed or incurred, successor asbestos-related liabilities. See West Virginia Code 55-7I-2
- Transferor: means a corporation from which successor asbestos-related liabilities are or were assumed or incurred. See West Virginia Code 55-7I-2
(b) The limitations in section four of this article shall not apply to:
(1) Workers’ compensation benefits paid by or on behalf of an employer to an employee under the provisions of chapter twenty-three of this code or a comparable workers’ compensation law of another jurisdiction;
(2) Any claim against a corporation that does not constitute a successor asbestos-related liability;
(3) An insurance corporation;
(4) Any obligation under the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U. S. C. Section 151, et seq., as amended, or under any collective bargaining agreement;
(5) A successor that, after a merger or consolidation, continued in the business of mining asbestos or in the business of selling or distributing asbestos fibers or in the business of manufacturing, distributing, removing or installing asbestos-containing products which were the same or substantially the same as those products previously manufactured, distributed, removed or installed by the transferor;
(6) A contractual obligation existing as of the effective date of this article that was entered into with claimants or potential claimants or their counsel and which resolves asbestos claims or potential asbestos claims;
(7) Any claim made against the estate of a debtor in a bankruptcy proceeding commenced prior to the effective date of this article, under the United States Bankruptcy Code, 11 U. S. C. Section 101, et seq., by or against such debtor, or against a bankruptcy trust established under 11 U. S. C. Section 524(g) or similar provision of the United States Code in such a bankruptcy; and
(8) A successor asbestos-related liability arising under common law or statute for premises liability, or a cause of action for premises liability, as applicable, but only if the successor owned or controlled the premise or premises at issue after the merger or consolidation.