Opinion ID: 2996125
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: analysis

Text: The limitations period for § 1983 cases in Illinois is two years. Licari v. City of Chi., 298 F.3d 664, 667-68 (7th Cir. 2002). Clark complains of events that took place “in or about 1997,” but he did not file this suit until 2001. Thus, at first glance his complaint appears to be about two years untimely. 4 No. 01-4270 Clark, however, advances several lines of argument that he believes could potentially rescue his suit. First, he reasserts his theory that the City’s action is a “continuing violation” that therefore amounts to a fresh wrong each day. Clark cites a number of Illinois cases in support of this claim, but we have said that the doctrine of continuing violation is one governing accrual, not tolling, and is therefore governed by federal law. Heard v. Sheahan, 253 F.3d 316, 319 (7th Cir. 2001). And under federal law, the continuing violation doctrine does not save an otherwise untimely suit when “a single event gives rise to continuing injuries” because in such a case “the plaintiff can bring a single suit based on an estimation of his total injuries.” Id. That is precisely the situation here. Clark alleges one discrete incident of unlawful conduct—the installation of the pipes on his land. That the alleged trespass is, by Clark’s description, “permanent” does not convert that discrete act into one long continuing wrong. See Pitts v. City of Kankakee, 267 F.3d 592, 595-96 (7th Cir. 2001) (doctrine of continuing violation did not apply to claim that the city violated plaintiffs’ constitutional rights by placing signs on their land; at the moment the city posted each sign, plaintiffs knew they had suffered an injury and nothing new happened thereafter to change the nature of the injury). Clark also contends that, because the trespass was not “readily apparent,” the doctrine of equitable tolling could potentially save his claim. The City responds that equitable tolling cannot apply because “no averment in the complaint supports Clark’s contention that the City was guilty of fraudulent concealment warranting the application of equitable tolling.” This is wrong, both because a plaintiff is not required to negate an affirmative defense in his complaint, Leavell v. Kieffer, 189 F.3d 492, 494 (7th Cir. 1999); Tregenza v. Great Am. Communications Co., 12 F.3d 717, 718 (7th Cir. 1993), and because equitable No. 01-4270 5 tolling does not assume any blameworthy conduct by the defendant (as opposed to equitable estoppel, which does), Cada v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., 920 F.2d 446, 451 (7th Cir. 1990). Nonetheless, we are uncertain whether Clark can ultimately benefit from equitable tolling. First of all, in § 1983 cases it is the state doctrine of equitable tolling that governs, Shropshear v. Corp. Counsel of the City of Chi., 275 F.3d 593, 596 (7th Cir. 2001), and it remains unsettled whether the doctrine exists in Illinois. Moreover, we question whether Clark has confused equitable tolling with the discovery rule. Clark’s basic position is that he did not have knowledge of his injury until the limitations period had already lapsed. But equitable tolling assumes that the plaintiff knows he has been injured; the limitations period is tolled, however, if he cannot obtain information necessary to file suit. Cada, 920 F.2d at 451. It seems, therefore, that what Clark wants to rely on is the discovery rule, which postpones the beginning of the limitations period to the date when the plaintiff discovers or should have discovered that he has been injured. Id. at 450. The City contends that the discovery rule does not save Clark’s suit because his “complaint is wanting for any reasonable inference triggering the application of the discovery rule or otherwise resulting in a tolling of the limitations period.” But again, a plaintiff is not required to negate an affirmative defense, such as the statute of limitations, in his complaint. And though a plaintiff can plead himself out of court if he alleges facts that affirmatively show that his suit is time-barred, Tregenza, 12 F.3d at 718, that is not what we have here. Clark’s complaint states that the City violated his constitutional rights “in or about 1997,” but it is silent as to the date of discovery. Clark could have spared everyone this appeal if he had just alleged a specific date of discovery in his reply to the motion to dismiss or in his motion to reconsider. Then, 6 No. 01-4270 if the City still wanted to plead the statute of limitations, it would have moved for summary judgment, and the issue would have come to us with a more complete factual record. But at this stage, the question is only whether there is any set of facts that if proven would establish a defense to the statute of limitations, Early v. Bankers Life and Casualty Co., 959 F.2d 75, 80 (7th Cir. 1992), and that possibility exists. Clark’s motion to reconsider, though not exactly artful, made reasonably clear that he was trying to allege that he did not learn of his injury until some point outside of the limitations period, perhaps because, as he clarifies on appeal, he did not try to develop the land before then. If Clark can prove his allegation and also show that a reasonable person would not have discovered the injury earlier, he would have a defense to the time bar. Dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) was therefore premature. See Bontkowski v. Smith, 305 F.3d 757, 762 (7th Cir. 2002) (vacating Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal where plaintiff alleged (seemingly for the first time on appeal) that he did not have all the information required to bring suit within limitations period); Early, 959 F.2d at 80 (finding dismissal premature where plaintiff could prove a set of facts that would show that the untimeliness of his suit was due to wrongful acts of defendant).1