Title: Dukes v. Montgomery County Nursing Home

State: tennessee

Issuer: Tennessee Supreme Court

Document:

639 S.W.2d 910 (1982) Addie C. DUKES, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MONTGOMERY COUNTY NURSING HOME, The Tennessee Company, and the Northwestern National Insurance Group, Defendants-Appellees. Supreme Court of Tennessee, at Nashville. October 12, 1982. Steve Atkins, Clarksville, for plaintiff-appellant. Randall C. Ferguson, Nashville, for defendants-appellees. BROCK, Justice. The complaint in this case alleges a claim for benefits under the Worker's Compensation Act. The trial court concluded that the complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and, accordingly, dismissed the action pursuant to defendant's motion. The defect found by the trial court in the complaint was that it disclosed upon its face that the action was not filed within the one year statute of limitations for worker's compensation claims, T.C.A., § 50-1003, and that a prior suit filed by the plaintiff upon this same claim which was later voluntarily nonsuited did not operate to save the instant action under the terms of T.C.A., § 28-1-105, the "savings statute," because that original action had itself been filed more than one year after the date of the accident on April 12, 1976. The plaintiff sought to avoid the bar of the one year statute of limitations by alleging in the complaint that the original action was not filed within one year of the date of the accident because of fraudulent misrepresentations made by the defendant and its agents that defendant's liability was recognized and benefits under the worker's compensation law would be paid without the necessity of the plaintiff filing suit. The defendants argued in the trial court, as they do here, that, although fraudulent misrepresentations by an employer or its agents may estop an employer from relying upon the statute of limitations, thus enabling a plaintiff to file his claim more than one year from the date of the accident, nevertheless, the voluntary dismissal or nonsuit of such an action does not afford the plaintiff the benefit of the savings statute, *911 T.C.A., § 28-1-105, because the original action was not "commenced within the time limited by a rule or statute of limitation, ... ." We are limited to the facts alleged in the complaint. The plaintiff alleges in her complaint that she was injured by an accident arising out of and in the course of her employment when she suffered an injury to her back while lifting a patient on April 12, 1976. The complaint then alleges as follows: Treating the facts alleged in the complaint as true, as we must for purposes of ruling upon the motion to dismiss, we hold that the defendants are estopped to rely upon the defense of the one year statute of limitations. Giles County Bd. of Ed. v. Hickman, Tenn., 547 S.W.2d 944 (1977); Bellar v. Baptist Hospital, Inc., Tenn., 559 S.W.2d 788 (1978); American Mutual Liability Insurance Co. v. Baxter, 210 Tenn. 242, 357 S.W.2d 825 (1962). In the Hickman case, supra, we stated the rule of estoppel as follows: 547 S.W.2d at 946-47. The facts in the instant case are substantially equivalent to those of the Bellar and Hickman cases; we, therefore, reach a similar conclusion and hold that the defendants are estopped to rely upon the statute of limitations. What we have said about estoppel is with reference to plaintiff's first suit which was filed on July 27, 1977, approximately three and one-half months after the expiration of the one year period immediately following the accident which occurred on April 12, 1976. This first suit was voluntarily nonsuited on December 12, 1978, and the instant action was filed on May 1, 1979, the plaintiff relying upon the "saving statute," T.C.A., § 28-1-105, which provides as follows: The defendants argue that even if the doctrine of estoppel is applicable and prevents their relying upon the statute of limitations with reference to the first suit, nevertheless, the above quoted "saving statute" does not apply because the plaintiff's first suit was not "commenced within the time limited by a rule or statute of limitation... ." This Court has long been committed to the view that the "saving statute" is remedial and should be liberally construed *913 in furtherance of its purpose and in order to bring cases within its spirit and fair intention. Nashville, C & St. L. Ry. v. Bolton, 134 Tenn. 447, 184 S.W. 9 (1916); Woods v. Palmer, Tenn., 496 S.W.2d 474 (1973); Brooksbank v. Roane County, 207 Tenn. 524, 341 S.W.2d 570 (1960); Balsinger v. Gass, 214 Tenn. 343, 379 S.W.2d 800 (1964). We hold that the "saving statute," T.C.A., § 28-1-105, is available to a plaintiff who files his second action within one year of the voluntary nonsuit of his first suit even though that first suit was not filed within the period fixed by the appropriate statute of limitations, provided, the facts and circumstances are such that the defendant is estopped to assert that the filing of the first action was tardy. The estoppel has the legal effect of rendering the first action one which was "commenced within the time limited by a rule or statute of limitation... ." The judgment of the trial court sustaining the motion to dismiss is reversed and this cause is remanded to that court for an evidentiary hearing upon the issues made up by the complaint and answer. Costs incurred on appeal are taxed against the appellees. FONES, C.J., and COOPER, HARBISON and DROWOTA, JJ., concur.