Court Opinion

ID: 9639919
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 16:51:50.906039+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:22.460461
License: Public Domain

On Motion for Rehearing
PER CURIAM.
Plaintiff claims the opinion herein overlooked and failed to apply Sec. 516.100, RSMo V.A.M.S., the part of which claimed applicable hereto is as follows: “[T]he cause of action shall not be deemed to accrue when the wrong is done or the technical breach of contract or duty occurs, but when the damage resulting therefrom is sustained and is capable of ascertainment”. The proviso stating this principle was added to what is now Sec. 516.100 (then Sec. 1887, R.S.1909) by amendment in 1919, Laws 1919, p. 211. Therefore, the older cases cited by plaintiff do not have much value in construing this provision. Moreover, they would be more applicable to a suit by plaintiff against its president than to this action against the bank.
It is stated, 54 C.J.S. Limitations of Actions § 174, p. 141: “Under statutes providing that in personal actions the cause of action shall not be deemed to accrue when the wrong occurs or the technical breach of duty occurs, but when the damage resulting therefrom is sustained and capable of ascertainment * * * it has been held that, in cases falling within the purview of the statute, if the action is of a nature to be maintained without proof of actual damage limitations will run from the time of the wrongful act, but that, when the act is not legally injurious until certain consequences occur, then the period of limitations runs from the date of consequential injury. The injurious consequences or resulting damages which bring about accrual of the cause of action are the indis*164pensable elements of the injury itself and not mere aggravating circumstances enhancing a legal injury already inflicted or the mere development of the injury, and the resulting damage is sustained and capable of ascertainment within the contemplation of the statute whenever it is such that it can be discovered or made known.”
We said in Rippe v. Sutter, Mo.Sup., 292 S.W.2d 86, 90, that this statute “does not change the general rule that ‘when an injury is complete as a legal injury at the time of the act, the period of limitation will at once commence.’ ” (All emphasis ours.) In the Rippe case which was for damages for property taken under void judgments, we held the limitation period began on rendition of the void judgments. See also Allison v. Missouri Power & Light Co., Mo. App., 59 S.W.2d 771, 773, as to personal injury cases.
In Gruenewaelder v. Wintermann, Mo. Sup., 360 S.W.2d 678, we reaffirmed the rulings of the Rippe and Allison cases, affirming the court’s action in entering a summary judgment against the plaintiff “on the theory that plaintiff’s action was barred by the five-year statute-of- limitations”. We held “that Section 516.100 RSMo 1959, V.A.M.S. cannot aid the appellant under the undisputed facts of this case, because of an applicable rule of law well stated in Rippe v. Sutter, supra”. In the Gruene-waelder case, the plaintiff alleged a conspiracy to defraud her of certain mining property, in another state, seeking both actual and punitive damages. The property was lost by foreclosure of a mortgage within the five-year limitation period. However, plaintiff’s action was based on fraud in obtaining the mortgage and we held plaintiff had knowledge of the alleged fraud more than five years before and did not bring suit to rescind. Thus the damage was sustained and capable of ascertainment when the mortgage was executed rather than when it was foreclosed.
An early case considering the 1919 amendment to Sec. 516.100 is Dennig v. Meckfessel, 303 Mo. 525, 261 S.W. 55, 57, which was an action for contribution among co-guarantors after payment of common obligations. It was contended the action did not accrue until liquidation of the company whose obligations were paid, because this would reduce the amount of the obligations guaranteed. The court held “plaintiffs were entitled to contribution the moment they paid the common obligations.” By way of dictum, since the court held the actions barred before the effective date of the 1919 amendment, the court said: “[I]f this proviso were applicable, it is plain that by its terms the causes of action accrued when the obligations were paid, as the liability of each guarantor was then capable of ascertainment.” What is meant by “capable of ascertainment” is also illustrated by Lewis v. Thompson, 231 Mo.App. 321, 96 S.W.2d 938. The issue was whether the cause of action for services in the sale of lumber yards accrued on March 23, 1927, when the contract of sale was entered into or on April 2, 1927, when the inventories of the merchandise, lumber and other materials were completed. Since plaintiff’s compensation was claimed on the basis of a percentage of. the sale price, it was held that the compensation was capable of ascertainment only after inventories were completed, so that statute of limitations did not begin to run until after that date.
In construing this statute we must consider that it does not say accrual of a cause of action is postponed until discovery of a wrongful act but only says accrual is postponed until the damage resulting from a wrongful act “is sustained and is capable of ascertainment.” In short, the statute begins to run when the damage is sustained and is capable of ascertainment. The failure to discover the wrongful act does not prevent the accrual of the action after the damage is sustained and is capable of ascertainment, unless, of course, the discovery is prevented by fraud or deception. Sec. 516.120(5). Even under that provision: “A general charge of ignorance at *165one time and of subsequent knowledge at another, as well as mere silence, is insufficient to toll the statute.” Brown v. Irving-Pitt Mfg. Co., 316 Mo. 1023, 292 S.W. 1023, 1025. We further held in that case: “When discovery is relied upon to toll the statute, the pleading should aver when it was made, what it was, how it was made, and why it was not made sooner.” See also Hays v. Smith, Mo.Sup., 213 S.W. 451, 456, citing cases holding “mere silence of the debtor will not excuse the creditor’s failure to discover the fraud”; likewise Clapp v. Leavens, 8 Cir., 164 F. 318, 321, saying “mere ignorance of the plaintiff of his cause of action will not prevent the running of the statute.” We, therefore, hold the general rule must be applied as thus stated in Hunter v. Hunter, Mo.Sup., 237 S.W.2d 100, 103: “A cause of action accrues, and limitations thereon begin to run, when the right to sue arises.”
In this case, the injury to plaintiff was complete as a legal injury at the time defendant cashed the check for plaintiff’s president on his unauthorized endorsement. The damage was then sustained and upon any inquiry it soon could have been discovered and made known. Since the amount of damage was the amount of the check, it was then capable of ascertainment within the contemplation of Sec. 516.100. Certainly with reasonable diligence on the part of plaintiff’s officers, they could have discovered this unauthorized act of their president well within the period of limitations. Plaintiff’s officers knew they had a participating policy with General American from which they could expect annual dividends; but they did nothing to find out when or what dividends were paid or who received the dividend checks. Apparently they let their president receive and cash these dividend checks for several years without making any inquiry to the Insurance Company. Defendant Bank did nothing but cash this check and in no way concealed the transaction from anyone. In any event, it was submitted to the jury by Instruction D-4 to find in favor of defendant “if plaintiff had the means of discovering in its power or by the exercise of reasonable diligence could have discovered same” (payment of $2517.68 to Morris Parker) “at any time prior to September 20, 1957.” (Suit was commenced September 20, 1962.) The jury found for defendant on this submission. Our conclusion is that Sec. 516.100 does not help plaintiff.
The motion for rehearing is overruled.