Court Opinion

ID: 9476525
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:58:10.82889+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:45:22.087472
License: Public Domain

MORGAN, Senior Circuit Judge,
concurring specially:
I concur in Judge Edmondson’s opinion except for the section concluding that equitable tolling principles do not apply to 15 U.S.C.A. § 2805(a) (1982). Equitable tolling principles are read into every federal statute of limitations, Holmberg v. Armbrecht, 327 U.S. 392, 397, 66 S.Ct. 582, 585, 90 L.Ed. 743, 748 (1946), unless there is congressional intent to the contrary. See e.g. Glus v. Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal, 359 U.S. 231, 234, 79 S.Ct. 760, 762, 3 L.Ed.2d 770, 773 (1959); Aldrich v. McCullock Properties, Inc., 627 F.2d 1036, 1042 (10th Cir.1980).
In Cook v. Deltona Corp., 753 F.2d 1552 (11th Cir.1985), this court considered the application of equitable tolling to 15 U.S.C. § 1711 (1976). At the time, § 1711 read as follows:
No action shall be maintained to enforce any liability created under section 1709(a) or (b)(2) of this title unless brought within one year after the discovery of the untrue statement or the omission, or after such discovery should have been made by the exercise of reasonable diligence, or, if the action is to enforce a liability created under section 1709(b)(1) of this title, unless brought within two years after the violation upon which it is based. In no event shall any such action be brought by a purchaser more than three years after the sale or lease to such purchaser.
The Cook court held that although the one year statute of limitations of § 1711 was susceptible to equitable tolling, Congress had specifically exempted the three year limitation from the principle. The court concluded that “[w]here the statute expressly provides for a tolling period for a fraudulent concealment, and then includes a secondary date which ‘in no event' can be surmounted, there is good basis for belief that the latter date was intended as an absolute barrier to the filing of suit.” Cook, 753 F.2d at 1562 (quoting Timmreck v. Munn, 433 F.Supp. 396, 408 (N.D.Ill.1977)). In this case, Congress was not so specific in exempting § 2805(a) from equitable tolling coverage.1 Without precedent or clear congressional guidance, this court should not refuse to apply equitable tolling principles to § 2805(a).
Furthermore, the limitation of equitable tolling is unwarranted since it is unnecessary to the result in this case. The factors necessary for equitable tolling, affirmative concealment by the defendant and due diligence by the plaintiff in discovering his cause of action, are not present in this case. Equitable tolling, although applicable to § 2805(a), does not aid plaintiff. The facts of this case do not require us to hold that equitable tolling never applies to § 2805(a).
Accordingly, I specially concur in the af-firmance of the district court.

. In its entirety, IS U.S.C.A. § 2805(a) (1982) provides the following:
If a franchisor fails to comply with the requirements of section 2802 or 2803 of this title, the franchisee may maintain a civil action against such franchisor. Such action may be brought, without regard to the amount in controversy, in the district court of the United States in any judicial district in which the principal place of business of such franchisor is located or in which such franchisee is doing business, except that no such action may be maintained unless commenced within 1 year after the later of—
(1) the date of termination of the franchise or nonrenewal of the franchise relationship; or
(2) the date the franchisor fails to comply with the requirements of section 2802 or 2803 of this title.
(Emphasis added).