[DOWNLOAD] "Nowotny v. L & B Contract Industries" by Supreme Court of Wyoming ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Nowotny v. L & B Contract Industries
- Author : Supreme Court of Wyoming
- Release Date : January 07, 1997
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 67 KB
Description
The main issue to be addressed in this case is whether we should expand the discovery rule for triggering the statute of limitations for personal injuries to include knowledge of the identity of the tort-feasor. This issue presents a conflict between a policy of providing a means of redress to an injured person and the policy of adoption of a statute of limitations, which frees the judicial system from litigation of stale claims and spares other parties from the defense of claims when memories have faded, witnesses have become unavailable, and evidence has been lost. Collateral issues are presented with respect to the application of the tolling statute and its possible unconstitutionality; the relation back of amendments to the complaint under WYO.R.CIV.P. Rule 15(c); abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court in setting aside a default entered in favor of the plaintiffs, Gary R. Nowotny and Carla Nowotny (Nowotnys); and denying the Nowotnys' motion to hold summary judgment proceedings in abeyance pending further discovery. The Nowotnys sought recovery for personal injuries sustained by Gary R. Nowotny when an allegedly defective restaurant bench seat collapsed. A Summary Judgment was entered in favor of L & B Contract Industries, Inc. (L & B) because the action was not commenced as to L & B before the statute of limitations had run. The Nowotnys ask this court to expand our discovery rule pertaining to the statute of limitations so that it is not triggered until the identity of the tort-feasor is known. L & B contends that the statute commenced to run when the injury was discovered or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have been discovered. We hold that the discovery of Nowotny's injury occurred at the time the restaurant seat broke causing his injuries, and reject the argument that discovery did not occur until the identity of the manufacturer of the seat was known. The Order Granting Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment is affirmed.