Opinion ID: 2448565
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Trial Court and Court of Appeals Proceedings

Text: ¶ 8 After obtaining counsel, on November 16, 2006 Unruh sent Cacchiotti a 90-day notice of intent to sue under former RCW 7.70.100 (2006). Cacchiotti's insurance representative responded, and Unruh's counsel and the representative began discussing resolution of the case. Unruh turned 21 on January 3, 2007. A few days later, on January 12, Unruh's counsel sent a letter to Cacchiotti's insurance representative requesting mediation under RCW 7.70.110. The insurance representative responded by letter stating, You have requested mediation based on RCW 7.70.100, and, therefore, we agree that the statute of limitations is tolled for one year by RCW 7.70.110. CP at 318. The parties agreed to mediate the dispute and set a date for September 2007. Before the parties could meet, Cacchiotti backed out of the mediation. Unruh filed her negligence lawsuit on September 27, 2007. ¶ 9 Cacchiotti moved for summary judgment based on the statute of limitations, RCW 4.16.350(3). [3] The trial court granted summary judgment to Cacchiotti, finding no genuine issue of material fact and that the statute of limitations had expired. CP at 345-49. Unruh appealed. ¶ 10 At the Court of Appeals, Unruh initially focused her argument on the statute of limitations' one-year discovery period. She argued she did not discover Cacchiotti's breach of duty until the March 2006 visit with Bryant. She acknowledged discovering before that time that the braces caused her root resorption, but she believed her injury resulted from a combination of her braces and a genetic predisposition to root resorption, not her braces and Cacchiotti's negligence. Until the notion of a genetic predisposition was dispelled by Bryant, Unruh did not suspect Cacchiotti had done anything wrong. ¶ 11 In his response, Cacchiotti argued that the three-year limitations period expired before Unruh filed suit in September 2007. He also argued that Unruh's claim was not saved by the discovery rule because she learned about her cause of action more than one year before filing the lawsuit. Alternatively, Cacchiotti argued that, even assuming Unruh did not discover her claim until the March 2006 visit with Bryant, the claim was still untimely because the request for mediation under RCW 7.70.110 was defective and thus did not toll the limitations period. [4] In another alternative argument, Cacchiotti contended that, even assuming the request for mediation effectively tolled the one-year discovery period, the lawsuit was still untimely under the newly reenacted eight-year statute of repose. ¶ 12 The Court of Appeals requested supplemental briefing from both parties on the effect of the statute of repose on this court's decision in DeYoung. The court also requested briefing regarding the effect of the 2006 nontolling amendment to RCW 4.16.190 on this court's decision in Gilbert. In her supplemental brief, Unruh raised constitutional challenges to the 2006 legislation, though she asserted that the case could be resolved on statutory grounds. [5] The Court of Appeals certified the case to this court, and we retained it for direct review. ¶ 3 The parties' briefing provides varying time lines of the events in this case. The following dates are relevant: -------------------------------------------------------- Aug.1999 Cacchiotti removes Unruh's braces -------------------------------------------------------- Nov.2000 Unruh's final visit with Cacchiotti -------------------------------------------------------- Jan. 3, 2004 Unruh turns 18 -------------------------------------------------------- June 7, 2006 Legislature (1) reenacts the eight-year medical malpractice statute of repose and (2) amends RCW 4.16.190 to eliminate tolling for minors in medical malpractice cases -------------------------------------------------------- Nov. 16, 2006 Unruh serves 90-day notice of intent to sue -------------------------------------------------------- Jan. 3, 2007 Unruh turns 21 -------------------------------------------------------- Jan. 12, 2007 Unruh sends request for mediation -------------------------------------------------------- Sept. 27, 2007 Unruh files lawsuit --------------------------------------------------------