Friday, December 10, 2021

Discovery Rule Found Inapplicable in Case of Dismissal of Claim Against PennDOT on Statute of Limitations Grounds

In its non-precedential decision in the case of Rupert v. Campus Crafts, Inc., No. 90 C.D. 2020 (Pa. Cmwlth. Oct. 27, 2021 Jubelirer, Jr., Wojcik, J., and Leadbetter, S.J.) (Op. by Wojcik, J.) (Not Reported/Not Precedential), the Pennsylvania Commonwealth court held that the trial court below had properly determined that the discovery rule did not apply in a Plaintiff’s lawsuit over an automobile accident. The court therefore granted the Defendants’ Motions for Judgment on the Pleadings because the applicable statute of limitations had expired.

This matter arose out of a motor vehicle accident.  As part of the claim, the Plaintiff asserted that PennDOT was negligent in the placement of mirrors on the roadway.  Following the accident, the Plaintiff retained accident reconstruction experts to analyze the claim and in an effort to see if such a claim should be included in the Complaint. 

On appeal in this matter, the Plaintiff asserted that his counsel had acted reasonably and diligently in developing the claim and that, as such, the Discovery Rule was applicable and that the issue of the applicability of the Discovery Rule should have been allowed to proceed to the jury.

As noted above, the Commonwealth Court disagreed and affirmed the dismissal of the action on the basis of the statute of limitations defense.

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.


Source: “Digest of Recent Opinions.” Pennsylvania Law Weekly (Nov. 16, 2021).

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