Opinion ID: 76891
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Date Statute of Limitations Began to Run

Text: 22 Though we have determined that the TVPA was equitably tolled, the inquiry does not end there. We must establish when exactly the ten-year statute of limitations began to run. The Seventh Circuit addressed this issue and in so doing, distinguished equitable tolling and equitable estoppel. The court opined that a plaintiff who invokes equitable tolling to suspend the statute of limitations must bring suit within a reasonable time after he has obtained, or by due diligence could have obtained, the necessary information. Cada v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., 920 F.2d 446, 453 (7th Cir.1990). By contrast, when a plaintiff is entitled to equitable estoppel, the clock stops upon the tolling of the limitations period and begins again when the impediment to bringing suit is removed. 23 As we stated in Justice , the plaintiff should act with due diligence and file his or her action in a timely fashion in order for equitable tolling to apply. 6 F.3d at 1479. The information regarding the circumstances and manner of Cabello's death was not discoverable or knowable until 1990; therefore, the 1999 filing of this claim was timely. 24 Our Circuit's precedent indicates that the statutory clock is stopped while tolling is in effect. In Knight v. Schofield we addressed the statute of limitations question in the habeas context. There we held that tolling means just what it says — the clock is stopped while tolling is in effect. 292 F.3d 709, 712 (11th Cir.2002). Although this holding addressed equitable tolling of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, we find that it is equally applicable in the context of other statutes. When a statute is equitably tolled, the statutory period does not begin to run until the impediment to filing a cause of action is removed. Thus, in this case, the clock was stopped until 1990 when the information surrounding Cabello's death became available. Since the statutory period began to run in 1990, the Cabello survivors' claim filed in 1999 is timely. 25 Accordingly, we affirm the ruling of the district court and hold that the Cabello survivors' claims were not time-barred because they were entitled to equitable tolling of the ten-year statute of limitations. 26