Opinion ID: 1103270
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Effects of the Tolling Provisions:

Text: ś 18. Clay County argues that even if notice was sufficient, she is still barred by the statute of limitations. The Act, in pertinent part, provides: (3) All actions brought under the provisions of this chapter shall be commenced within one (1) year next after the date of the tortious, wrongful or otherwise actionable conduct on which the liability phase of the action is based, and not after; provided, however, that the filing of a notice of claim as required by subsection (1) of this section shall serve to toll the statute of limitations for a period of ninety-five (95) days from the date the chief executive officer of the state agency receives the notice of claim, or for one hundred twenty (120) days from the date the chief executive officer or other statutorily designated official of a municipality, county or other political subdivision receives the notice of claim, during which time no action may be maintained by the claimant unless the claimant has received a notice of denial of claim. After the tolling period has expired, the claimant shall then have an additional ninety (90) days to file any action against the governmental entity served with proper claim notice. However, should the governmental entity deny any such claim, then the additional ninety (90) days during which the claimant may file an action shall begin to run upon the claimant's receipt of notice of denial of claim from the governmental entity. Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-11(3) (2001). ś 19. Clay County argues that Williams had one year from the date of her injury, November 1, 1999, to bring her claim. After the 120-day tolling period expired, Williams had an additional 90 days to file an action. Clay County asserts that after the additional 90 days, Williams's claim was barred even if it was within the one year time period of the statute of limitations. We do not agree. ś 20. In Marshall v. Warren County Bd. of Supervisors, 831 So.2d 1211 (Miss. Ct.App.2002), the cause of action accrued on July 31, 1999. Warren County received notice on March 6, 2000. A complaint was filed on November 2, 2000. The circuit judge used Clay County's interpretation of the statute of limitations and reasoned that the tolling provision began on March 6, 2000, and ended on July 4, 2000. After the tolling period, Marshall had 90 additional days to file her complaint, which was barred after October 2, 2000. The Court of Appeals affirmed the circuit court's decision, but not its interpretation of the Act, stating there is nothing to indicate that the Legislature intended to shorten the time frame for filing suit which was provided in previous versions of [the Act].... The Marshall court examined our opinion in Roberts v. New Albany Separate School District, 813 So.2d 729 (Miss. 2002), and determined that Roberts was distinguishable because the Roberts claimant gave notice of her claim some five days before the one-year statute of limitations expired. Therefore, the court found that when calculating the time of the tolling provision, she received the benefit of the `full measure of the 120 day period.' In this case, Marshall filed her notice of claim nearly four months prior the expiration of the one year statute of limitations. Consequently, the 120-day tolling period expired during the one year time period. Keeping in mind that in amending Mississippi Code Annotated Section 11-46-11 (Supp.1998), the Legislature did not shorten the one year statute of limitations, we hold that the amended statute, 2002 Miss. Laws Chapter 380 (Senate Bill 3052), requires that a plaintiff received, at a minimum, ninety days to file his action following the running of the one year statute of limitations. Marshall did not file her action until ninety-four days after the one year statute of limitations had run. The amendment to the statute requires, [a]fter the tolling period has expired, the claimant shall then have an additional ninety (90) days to file any action against the governmental entity served with proper claim notice. 2002 Miss. Laws. Ch. 380 (S.B.3052). Giving the statute plain meaning, we must find that Marshall's action is time-barred. Marshall, 831 So.2d at 1213. ś 21. In Roberts, we stated that the claimant was not barred by the statute of limitations when she brought suit. Roberts was injured on August 8, 1998, gave a notice of claim on August 3, 1999, and filed suit on December 6, 1999. The complaint was dismissed as untimely. On appeal, we reversed and remanded, stating that she gave notice of her claim within the one-year statute of limitations, which tolled the statute of limitations for 120 days. She was then given a 90-day period to file the suit, which she filed within. It is clear that Marshall and Roberts do not allow for Clay County's interpretation of the Act. ś 22. Williams interprets the statute of limitations as tolling for 120 days then resuming the counting of the one-year statute of limitations, thus giving her 485 days to file her suit from the time of her injury. She argues that once notice was given on November 15, 1999, the statute stopped running for 120 days, then resumed, barring all claims after February 28, 2001. Through this interpretation, it is arguable that a claimant has an additional 90 days after the 120 day tolling period if the governmental entity does not deny the claim within the 120 day tolling period. The result would be that a claimant has one year plus two hundred and ten days to file his or her action, or 575 days. We disagree because: [a]ny suggestion that a claimant has one year plus 95 (or 120) days plus 90 days must overcome both the natural reading of the overall statute and the specific interpretation barrier that the additional ninety (90) days during which the claimant may file an action shall begin to run upon the claimant's receipt of notice of denial of claim from the governmental entity. Burge v. Richton Mun. Separate Sch. Dist., 797 So.2d 1062, 1068 (Miss.Ct.App. 2001) (Southwick, P.J., concurring). ś 23. Marshall's interpretation of Roberts is correct. In Roberts, the plaintiff was given the full 120-day tolling period because notice was given within the final 120 days of the limitation period, whereas Marshall gave notice outside the final 120-day period of the limitations period. In Moore v. Memorial Hospital of Gulfport, 825 So.2d 658, 666-67 (Miss. 2002), we stated that Moore's complaint was timely. The cause of action accrued on August 31, 1998. Suit was filed on December 31, 1998, and was voluntarily dismissed on May 20, 1999. Moore gave statutory notice on June 9, 1999, which was within the last 120 days of the statute of limitations. Moore then had 120 days from the date of the notice to file her complaint. ś 24. Here, the accident occurred on November 1, 1999, and notice was given on November 15, 1999. The 120-day tolling period expired within the one-year statute of limitations. Williams was then entitled to a minimum of 90 days to file an action after the 120-day tolling period, which also expired before the one-year statute of limitations. When November 1, 2000, passed, so did the time for filing Williams's action. [5]
ś 25. Williams argues that she did not know the extent of her injury or that it would require surgery until March 2000, thereby extending the statute of limitations to March 2001. Thus, Williams's second notice of claim filed on February 2, 2001, was timely. This Court has held that the discovery rule applies to Tort Claims Act actions involving latent injuries. Barnes v. Singing River Hosp. Sys., 733 So.2d 199, 204 (Miss.1999). ś 26. We defined the date of accrual of a personal injury action relative to the type of injury sustained in a case applying the Federal Employers' Liability Act's three-year statute of limitations: In cases involving traumatic injury, when the symptoms are immediately manifested so that the employee is aware of the event causing the injury, the cause of action accrues upon the occurrence of the injury, regardless of whether the full extent of the disability is known at the time. By the same token, with industrial diseases, where the symptoms are not immediately manifested, the cause of action does not accrue until the employee is aware or should be aware of his condition. III. Cent. Gulf R.R. v. Boardman, 431 So.2d 1126, 1128 (Miss.1983) (quoting Fletcher v. Union Pac. R.R., 621 F.2d 902 (8th Cir.1980)). We applied this very same definition in Robinson v. Singing River Hosp. Sys., 732 So.2d 204, 208 (Miss. 1999), a case arising under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act wherein the plaintiff sustained burns to his calves from hot packs, because the plaintiff knew he was injured when the hot packs were applied. Here, Williams knew she was injured when she fell down the stairs. She may not have known the full extent of the disability when she fell, but she did know she was injured. Her injuries were not comparable to a delayed onset industrial disease. The cause of action accrued on November 1, 1999, the date of the fall.
ś 27. Williams argues that Clay County should be equitably estopped from asserting a statute of limitations defense. Equitable estoppel can be asserted to a statute of limitations defense to avoid a serious injustice if there is inequitable conduct. Trosclair v. Miss. Dep't of Transp., 757 So.2d 178, 181 (Miss.2000). Estoppel is action or nonaction that induces another's reliance thereon, either in the form of action or nonaction, to his or her detriment. Carr, 733 So.2d at 265 (quoting Fritsch v. St. Croix Cent. Sch. Dist., 183 Wis.2d 336, 515 N.W.2d 328 (Ct.App. 1994)). For equitable estoppel to apply, there must be a representation by a party, reliance by the other party, and a change in position by the relying party. Carr, 733 So.2d at 265. Governmental entities are not immune from equitable estoppel. Id. ś 28. We did not apply equitable estoppel to prevent the State from asserting a statute of limitations defense when the State was diligent in working with the claimant and made attempts to settle the claim. Miss. Dep't of Pub. Safety v. Stringer, 748 So.2d 662, 665 (Miss.1999). Stringer was in constant contact with the Department of Public Safety after his accident. Id. at 664. He was paid for his property damage, but rejected two offers to settle his other claims. Id. Stringer filed his complaint two years after the accident. Id. Addressing his equitable estoppel argument, we stated, [a]dditionally, while inequitable or fraudulent conduct does not have to be established to estop an assertion of an inadequate notice of claim defense, inequitable or fraudulent conduct must be established to estop a party from asserting a statute of limitations defense. Id. at 665. We also stated that equitable estoppel should not be applied liberally: Although under certain circumstances a defendant's actions may be such that estop that defendant from claiming the protection of a statute of limitations, we do not agree that equitable estoppel should be applied so liberally as to allow a plaintiff to assert estoppel where no inequitable behavior is present. Statutes of limitations are well established in our judicial system. We have stated their purpose before as follows: The primary purpose of statutory time limitations is to compel the exercise of a right of action within a reasonable time. These statutes are founded upon the general experience of society that valid claims will be promptly pursued and not allowed to remain neglected. They are designed to suppress assertion of false and stale claims, when evidence has been lost, memories have faded, witnesses are unavailable, or facts are incapable of production because of the lapse of time. Accordingly, the fact that a barred claim is a just one or has the sanction of a moral obligation does not exempt it from the limitation period. These statutes of repose apply with full force to all claims and courts cannot refuse to give the statute effect merely because it seems to operate harshly in a given case. The establishment of these time boundaries is a legislative prerogative. That body has the right to fix reasonable periods within which an action shall be brought and, within its sound discretion, determine the limitation period.... Deficiencies, if such there should be, in statutes of limitation should be remedied by the legislature. It should not be the province or function of this court to intrude upon an area peculiarly within the channel of legislative action.... Stringer, 748 So.2d at 665-66 (quoting Smith v. Sneed, 638 So.2d 1252, 1263 (Miss.1994) (Hawkins, C.J., dissenting)). We found there was no allegation or evidence the State misled or caused Stringer to believe he did not need to comply with the notice provision or statute of limitations. Id. at 667 ś 29. Here, Robinson, the chancery clerk, told Williams that Clay County would pay for any valid medical claims. In his letter to Waide, Robinson admitted he told Williams this on March 16, 2000, but he also stated that she never presented any bills or medical claims as of that date, February 13, 2001. Robinson's conduct did not rise to the level of inequity or fraud. He told Williams that Clay County would pay a valid claim, yet Williams never presented any bills or anything indicating her expenses. Instead of bringing forth her medical bills so the county could review or pay them, she brought suit nearly fifteen months after her accident. As in Stringer, there is no allegation or evidence that Robinson misled or caused Williams to believe that she did not have to comply with the statute. [6] ś 30. This claim is without merit.