Case Name: Elvin E. CARROLL, Sr., Appellant, v. NATIONAL POSTAL MAIL HANDLERS UNION; International Union of North America, Appellees
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 2006-03-31
Citations: 172 F. App'x 706
Docket Number: No. 05-1982
Parties: Elvin E. CARROLL, Sr., Appellant, v. NATIONAL POSTAL MAIL HANDLERS UNION; International Union of North America, Appellees.
Judges: Before RILEY, MAGILL, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: West's Federal Appendix
Volume: 172
Pages: 706–707

Head Matter:
Elvin E. CARROLL, Sr., Appellant, v. NATIONAL POSTAL MAIL HANDLERS UNION; International Union of North America, Appellees.
No. 05-1982.
United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.
Submitted: March 30, 2006.
Decided: March 31, 2006.
Elvin E. Carroll, Sr., Jacksonville, AR, pro se.
Clayton Roy Blackstock, Mitchell & Blackstock, Little Rock, AR, James R. Newsom, III, Harris & Shelton, Elsie Nichole Trail, Hanover & Walsh, Memphis, TN, John M. West, Bredhoff & Kaiser, Washington, DC, for Appellees.
Before RILEY, MAGILL, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
Elvin Carroll appeals the district court's Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) dismissal of his suit against his union for discrimination and failure to represent him. We affirm.
Carroll does not dispute that his suit was filed after the relevant limitations pe riods had run, and we agree with the district court that the circumstances Carroll identified did not provide a basis for equitable tolling or equitable estoppel. See Henderson v. Ford Motor Co., 403 F.3d 1026, 1033 (8th Cir.2005) (equitable tolling applies when plaintiff "despite all due diligence, is unable to obtain vital information bearing on the existence of his claim"; equitable estoppel tolls limitations period when employee knows of claim, but employer affirmatively and actively takes action that causes employee not to timely file suit); see also Bring v. McDonnell Douglas Corp., 58 F.3d 1323, 1329 (8th Cir.1995) (equitable estoppel may be invoked where plaintiff is lulled or tricked into letting filing deadline pass because of employer misconduct above and beyond wrongdoing upon which plaintiffs claim is founded); Grant v. McDonnell Douglas Corp., 163 F.3d 1136, 1138 (9th Cir.1998) (recognizing that some courts have allowed equitable tolling of limitations period based on mental illness for some federal claims, but only in exceptional circumstances, such as institutionalization or adjudged mental incompetence of litigant).
Accordingly, we affirm.
. The Honorable William R. Wilson, Jr., United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas.