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Hedgepath v. American Telephone and Telegraph Company12/10/2001
Gadsden, 262 S.C. at 592, 206 S.E.2d at 883; Vines, 314 S.C. at 308, 443 S.E.2d at 911; Moates, 322 S.C. at 175, 470 S.E.2d at 403.
Application of equitable estoppel does not require an intentional misrepresentation. It is sufficient if the plaintiff reasonably relied upon the words or conduct of the defendant in allowing the limitations period to expire. Dillon County, 286 S.C. at 218-19, 332 S.E.2d at 561; Brown, 326 S.C. at 419, 483 S.E.2d at 482. Whether the defendant's actions lulled the plaintiff into "a false sense of security" is usually a question of fact. Dillon County, 286 S.C. at 219, 332 S.E.2d at 561. However, summary judgment is proper where there is no evidence of conduct on the defendant's part warranting estoppel. Vines, 314 S.C. at 309, 443 S.E.2d at 911.
The Banyard plaintiffs argue the defendants should be equitably estopped from applying the statute of limitations due to their silence and failure to disclose the extent of environmental contamination, particularly as reflected in the Dames & Moore Report. "Silence, when it is intended, or when it has the effect of misleading a party, may operate as equitable estoppel." Southern Dev. Land & Golf Co. v. South Carolina Pub. Serv. Auth., 311 S.C. 29, 33, 426 S.E.2d 748, 751 (1993) (citation omitted).
The primary point overlooked by the plaintiffs in their estoppel argument is the existence of an underlying duty to speak or disclose. As the Supreme Court noted, " stoppel by silence arises where a person owing another a duty to speak refrains from doing so and thereby leads the other to believe in the existence of an erroneous state of facts." Id. (emphasis added).
A duty to speak or disclose may be found in three distinct scenarios: where it arises from a pre-existing definite fiduciary relation between the parties; where one party expressly reposes a trust and confidence in the other with reference to the particular transaction in question, or else from the circumstances of the case, the nature of their dealings, or their position towards each other, such a trust and confidence in the particular case is necessarily implied; and where the very contract or transaction itself, in its essential nature, is intrinsically fiduciary and necessarily calls for perfect good faith and full disclosure without regard to any particular intention of the parties. Jacobson v. Yaschik, 249 S.C. 577, 155 S.E.2d 601 (1967); Kiriakides v. Atlas Food Sys. & Serv. Inc., 338 S.C. 572, 527 S.E.2d 371 (Ct. App. 2000), affirmed as modified and remanded, 343 S.C. 587, 541 S.E.2d 257 (2001).
In this case, there is no factual basis to find a duty to speak or disclose on the part of the defendants. The Dames & Moore Report was a privately commissioned report prepared for Gaston Copper in connection with the sale by Nassau of the reclamation facility. The Banyard plaintiffs have not established a fiduciary or confidential relationship between themselves and the defendants that would impose a duty upon the defendants to disclose the contents of this private report to the public. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in failing to apply the equitable estoppel doctrine in the Banyard case.
THE HEDGEPATH APPEAL
On April 26, 1996, the Hedgepath complaint was filed in state court. The complaint sought recovery for damage to real property based upon causes of action for negligence, trespass, nuisance, strict liability, and fraud. Nassau and Gaston Copper filed answers denying the material allegations of the complaint and asserting the statute of limitations as a defense. Pursuant to the complex case management order, the initial phase of the litigation was limited to the statute o
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