Court Opinion

ID: 9660518
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 22:14:57.971368+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:20.155817
License: Public Domain

WELLIVER, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. It is my opinion that this case was improvidently transferred by this Court. So believing, I would now adopt the opinion of Dowd, P. J., concurred in by Snyder, J., and Stockard, Sp. J., filed in the Court of Appeals, Eastern *560District, June 6, 1978, and file the same herein as my dissenting opinion.
Before setting forth the opinion of the court of appeals, I would make the following observations. One of the most extensive and most consistent lines of authority in Missouri law is that line of cases construing our statute of limitations applicable to tort and contract actions, § 516.100, RSMo 1978. Section 516.100, RSMo 1978, provides that a cause of action shall be deemed to have accrued for purposes of applying the limitations period “when the damage resulting therefrom is sustained and capable of ascertainment.” This test for when a cause of action accrues was designed “to avoid the unjust results which may occur when the statute is held to run prior to the manifestation of harm,” Developments in the Law — Statutes of Limitation, 63 Harv.L. Rev. 1077, 1206 (1950), and represents a “compromise between the plaintiff-favoring ‘discovery’ test and the defendant-favoring ‘wrongful act’ test.” Davis, Tort Liability and the Statutes of Limitation, 33 Mo.L. Rev. 171, 188 (1968). Missouri courts have uniformly held that the statute of limitations begins to run when the legal injury is complete and the right to sue arises.1
Both the principal opinion and the concurring opinion represent a total abandonment of the judicial precedent construing and applying our statute. Both opinions would abandon the principle that civil actions “can only be commenced within” the limitations period, and would permit the filing of appellant’s eight-year-old cause of action and the recovery of damages for the five years prior to the filing of the action. Both opinions ignore the fact that where the legal remedy is inadequate, e. g., where the amount of damages is speculative, the injured party may seek equitable relief or a combination of legal and equitable relief. The concurring opinion, and Cacioppo v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., 550 S.W.2d 919 (Mo.App.1977), upon which it relies, dwell on the impossibility of self-help in removing fixtures belonging to utilities and completely ignore the fact that the injured party might well have asked the court to order their removal.
With these comments regarding the opinions here written, I now set forth the opinion of the court of appeals as the appropriate statement of Missouri law applicable to this case.
“The sole issue presented on appeal is whether the cause of action pleaded against Laclede Gas Company is barred by the statute of limitations. Plaintiff-appellant Leroy Davis filed suit in St. Louis County *561against defendant gas company on January 17, 1973.
The trial court sustained defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s petition with prejudice for failure to state a cause of action. In its order, the court pointed out that the action appeared to be barred by the statute of limitations. On appeal, plaintiff does not contend the trial court erred in sustaining defendant’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action but contends solely that the court erred in holding that the action is barred by the statute of limitations. We disagree with this contention and affirm the judgment.
Plaintiff’s third amended petition contained two counts, Count I for breach of contract and Count II for negligence. Count I alleged an oral contract made in the latter part of 1965 to move a gas meter to the exterior of plaintiff’s dry cleaning and pressing plant to correct a dangerous condition arising from the lack of a vent pipe on the inside gas meter; that said contract was breached on or about December 18, 1965 when defendant failed to remove the meter but instead installed a vent pipe; that this vent pipe so interfered with the gas supply that most of the time plaintiff could not get enough steam pressure to operate his presses; that plaintiff made repeated demands on defendant to remove the vent pipe and move the meter to the exterior where it had originally been, which was finally done on July 13, 1970; and that as a result plaintiff had to take his pressing to be done elsewhere and lost profits for 4½ years and had been damaged to the extent of $45,000. Alternatively, Count II alleges negligence and incompetence by defendant in installing the vent pipe rather than moving the location of the meter.
Appellant claims that the trial court erred in finding his claim barred by the statute of limitations. He first alleges that the court “overlooked” that § 516.120, which fixes a five year limitation period for all actions upon contracts, obligations or liabilities, is modified by § 516.100.
We disagree. In order to determine when the five year statute of limitations set out in § 516.120 bars recovery, it is necessary to establish when the cause of action accrued. Jepson v. Stubbs, 555 S.W.2d 307, 311[4] (Mo. banc 1977). The standards establishing when a cause of action accrues are set out in § 516.100. This section states that a “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, and, if more than one item of damage, then the last item, so that all resulting damage may be recovered, and full and complete relief obtained.”
This statute does not change the general rule that the statute of limitations begins to run when the injury is complete as a legal injury at the time of the act. Chemical Workers Basic Union v. Arnold Sav. Bank, 411 S.W.2d 159, 164[5] (Mo. banc 1966). The cause of action accrues and period of limitations begins to run when the right to sue arises. Chemical Workers Basic Union v. Arnold Sav. Bank, supra, 411 S.W.2d at 165[6]; DePaul Hospital v. Southwestern Bell Tel., 539 S.W.2d 542, 546[3] (Mo.App.1976).
For a breach of contract suit, the cause of action generally accrues upon defendant’s failure to do the thing contracted for at the time and in the manner contracted. Baron v. Kurn, 349 Mo. 1202, 164 S.W.2d 310, 316[2] (1942); McCandlish v. Estate of Timberlake, 497 S.W.2d 191, 195[3] (Mo.App.1973). This is true provided the damage resulting from the breach is sustained and capable of ascertainment when the breach occurs. Thorne v. Johnson, 483 S.W.2d 658 (Mo.App.1972).
Thus, under the contract claim here, the cause of action accrued on or shortly after December 18, 1965, when defendant installed the vent pipe and plaintiff was capable of ascertaining that his steam presses were no longer operating properly. Likewise, under the tort claim, the cause of action also accrued on or shortly after December 18, 1965, when the injury was apparent and the loss that would be inflicted could be ascertained with reasonable accuracy. Per*562son v. City of Independence, 114 S.W.2d 175, 179[5] (Mo.App.1938); Lewis v. City of Potosi, 317 S.W.2d 623, 628[1] (Mo.App.1958). Plaintiff’s own petition alleged that his damages commenced on December 18, 1965. In accordance with § 516.100, plaintiff was required to file suit on or shortly after December 18, 1970, to be within the five year statute of limitations set out in § 516.120. His suit was not filed until January 17, 1973, over two years too late.
Appellant claims that his cause of action did not accrue until July 13, 1970, when respondent finally removed the vent pipe and placed it outside plaintiff’s dry cleaning plant in response to plaintiff’s demands. He claims this is true because only then did the last item of damage occur and only then were the total damages suffered capable of ascertainment.
Obviously this argument is untenable. If such were the case, if defendant had never removed the vent pipe, plaintiff’s cause of action would never accrue. See Cacioppo v. Southwestern Bell Tel. Co., 550 S.W.2d 919, 925[9] (Mo.App.1977). Simply because damages extend to future losses does not mean a suit cannot be presently maintained. MAI No. 4.01 permits a jury instruction on future damages. Accordingly, as soon as substantial injury was inflicted, plaintiff could have sued for all his past and projected future damages. Person v. City of Independence, supra, 114 S.W.2d at 179[6].
Appellant also claims the court should have at least let him “reach back to January 16, 1968, five years before suit was filed, so as to permit recovery for part of the tort complained of.” He here uses a theory of “continuous tort.” This was not a continuous tort. Rather, the tortious act was completed as a legal injury at the time of the allegedly negligent act. See Rippe v. Sutter, 292 S.W.2d 86, 90[11] (Mo.1956). Furthermore, “[wjhere a tortious act has been completed, or the tortious acts have ceased, the period of limitations will not be extended on the ground of a continuing wrong. Where the case is such that all damages, both past and future, can be presently estimated and recovered in one action, successive actions cannot be brought for recurring or continuing damages, and the statute runs from the time the original cause of action accrues.” 54 C.J.S. Limitations of Actions, § 169, at 127 — 28. Appellant’s point is without merit.
A statute of limitations serves public policy by safeguarding against fraud and oppression and compelling settlement of claims within a reasonable period after their origin, while evidence remains fresh in witnesses’ memories. Baron v. Kurn, supra, 164 S.W.2d at 317[5]. Such a statute requires persons to seasonably file and vigilantly prosecute claims for relief or find their claims proscribed. State ex rel. Sisters of St. Mary v. Campbell, 511 S.W.2d 141, 148[7] (Mo.App.1974). Appellant failed to file his claim within the limitations period and is not entitled to relief.”
I agree with the court of appeals that the alleged cause of action is time-barred and the judgment should be affirmed.

. This Court has frequently held that the “capable of ascertainment” test of § 516.100 codified the doctrine that the period of limitations begins to run when the plaintiffs right to sue arises. Jepson v. Stubbs, 555 S.W.2d 307, 312 (Mo. banc 1977); Ballwin Plaza Corp. v. H. B. Deal Construction Co., 462 S.W.2d 687, 690 (Mo.1971); Chemical Workers Basic Union v. Arnold Savings Bank, 411 S.W.2d 159, 163 65 (Mo. banc 1966); Gruenewaelder v. Wintermann, 360 S.W.2d 678, 690 (Mo.1962); Rippe v. Sutter, 292 S.W.2d 86, 90 (Mo.1956); Hunter v. Hunter, 361 Mo. 799, 804, 237 S.W.2d 100, 103 (1951); Coleman v. Kansas City, 353 Mo. 150, 163, 182 S.W.2d 74, 78 (banc 1944); Baron v. Kurn, 349 Mo. 1202, 164 S.W.2d 310, 316 (1942).
The decisions of our courts of appeal are in accord with the principle that the statute of limitations begins to run when the plaintiffs right to sue arises. Janssen v. Guaranty Land Title Co., 571 S.W.2d 702, 705 (Mo.App.1978); DePaul Hospital v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., 539 S.W.2d 542, 547 (Mo.App.1976); Neal v. Laclede Gas Co., 517 S.W.2d 716, 718 (Mo.App.1974); McCandlish v. Estate of Timberlake, 497 S.W.2d 191, 195 (Mo.App.1973); Anderson v. Dyer, 456 S.W.2d 808, 811 (Mo.App.1970); State ex rel. Collector of Revenue of the City of St. Louis v. Robertson, 417 S.W.2d 699, 700 (Mo.App.1967); National Credit Associates, Inc. v. Tinker, 401 S.W.2d 954, 956 (Mo.App.1966); Kohout v. Adler, 327 S.W.2d 492, 494-95 (Mo.App.1959); Beckers-Behrens-Gist Lumber Co. v. Adams, 311 S.W.2d 70, 74 (Mo.App.1958); Crawford v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 167 S.W.2d 915, 922 (Mo.App.1943); Lewis v. Thompson, 231 Mo.App. 321, 96 S.W.2d 938, 945 (1936); Allison v. Missouri Power & Light Co., 59 S.W.2d 771, 773 (Mo.App.1933); St. Louis County ex rel. Scott v. Marvin Planing Mill Co., 228 Mo.App. 1048, 58 S.W.2d 769, 771 (1933); Beard v. Citizens’ Bank of Memphis, 37 S.W.2d 678, 679 (Mo.App.1931); State ex rel. Fehrenbach v. Logan, 195 Mo.App. 171, 190 S.W. 75, 76 (1916); Boyd v. Buchanan, 176 Mo.App. 56, 162 S.W. 1075, 1075 (1914); Stark Bros. v. Gooding, 175 Mo.App. 353, 162 S.W. 333, 333 (1914).