Opinion ID: 2571639
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Conduct Based Distinctions

Text: In my view, the theory that concentrates on the nature of the conduct of the tortfeasor is the one that comports best with general tort law and with concepts of predictability and deterrence. Here, whether a trespass is permanent or continuous depends upon whether the tortfeasor perpetuates the injury through overt, persistent and ongoing acts of trespass. When the acts that caused the injury are complete, the trespass is permanent. When the tortfeasor continues to perform acts resulting in an invasion of another's property, then the tort is continuous and each new act creates a new cause of action. Many courts have reasoned that the classification of a tort as permanent or ongoing depends upon whether the tortfeasor continues to act. These courts refuse to classify the injury on the basis of the durability of the injuries caused by the tortfeasor's actions. Recently, the Supreme Court of Utah considered the issue, and stated in classifying a trespass as permanent or continuing, we look solely to the act constituting the trespass, and not to the harm resulting from the act. Breiggar Properties, L.C. v. H.E. Davis & Sons, Inc., 52 P.3d 1133, 1135 (Utah 2002). The court held that the continued presence of a pile of debris on plaintiff's property did not constitute a continuing trespass, even if the trespass could be abated at a reasonable cost. The court reasoned: We characterize a trespass as `permanent' to acknowledge that the act or acts of trespass have ceased to occur. We characterize a trespass as `continuing' to acknowledge that multiple acts of trespass have occurred, and continue to occur. . . . Id. The court also noted that to classify a trespass as continuing so long as the harm it caused could reasonably be abated would clearly undermine the purposes behind statutes of limitations. Id. at 1136. Similarly, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has refused to classify an ongoing presence as a continuing trespass. The court cautioned, a continuing trespass must be distinguished from a trespass that effects a permanent change in the condition of the land. The latter, while resulting in a continuing harm, does not subject the trespasser to liability for a continuing trespass. Sustrik v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., 413 Pa. 324, 197 A.2d 44, 46 (1964) (refusing to classify the trespass as continuing when defendant installed a sewer line across plaintiff's property). In Louisiana, the supreme court considered the nature of continuing torts in general and found, `[a] continuing tort is occasioned by [the continual] unlawful acts, not the continuation of the ill effects of an original, wrongful act.' In re Med. Review Panel for the Claim of Maria Moses, 788 So.2d 1173, 1183 (La.2001) (quoting Crump v. Sabine River Auth., 737 So.2d 720, 728 (La. 1999)) (drawing analogies from continuing trespass cases to support holding that for medical malpractice claims, continuing tort doctrine may not be invoked absent a continued course of tortious treatment or conduct). The court explained, When a defendant's damage-causing act is completed, the existence of continuing damages to a plaintiff, even progressively worsening damages, does not present successive causes of action accruing because of a continuing tort. Id. In pollution cases, injuries are often difficult to discover, such that a court may by inclined to classify an invasion by toxic chemicals as continuing to protect the plaintiff's cause of action. However, the Supreme Court of Alaska observed that the appropriate solution to such dilemmas lies not in reclassifying the nature of the trespass but in considering when the cause of action accrues. The court elaborated that while pollutants may be difficult to discover [t]hat characteristic, however, does not militate in favor of describing the defendants' alleged actions as a continuing nuisance or trespass. Rather, the discovery rule adequately addresses this problem. . . . FDIC v. Laidlaw Transit, Inc., 21 P.3d 344, 356 (Alaska 2001).