Mest v. Cabot Corp‪.‬

Wayne and Suzanne Hallowell and Merrill and Betty Mest are dairy farmers whose cows suffered from various ailments over the course of twenty years before being diagnosed with fluorosis in 1999. Upon learning the cause of their cows symptoms, the Hallowells and the Mests sued Cabot Corporation and Cabot Performance Materials (collectively, "Cabot") alleging, among other things, that Cabot engaged in the systematic poisoning of their dairy cows and farmland over several decades. Specifically, they claim that the hydrogen fluoride Cabot released from a nearby factory poisoned the vegetation upon which their livestock fed, and that Cabot fraudulently misled the plaintiffs to believe that the emissions were harmless. The District Court, concluding that the plaintiffs failed to exercise reasonable diligence to discover the cause of their cows symptoms, granted summary judgment dismissing all of the plaintiffs claims stemming from conduct that occurred prior to November 10, 1998, as time-barred. The District Court also dismissed the plaintiffs claims of fraud and negligence per se, and held that the plaintiffs were not entitled to damages for emotional distress. We conclude that, because there exists a material issue of fact as to whether the plaintiffs exercised reasonable diligence in determining the cause of their cows symptoms, the plaintiffs claims are not time-barred. Accordingly, we vacate in part, affirm in part, and remand for further proceedings.