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Williams v. Clay County11/13/2003
ases involving traumatic injury, when the symptoms are immediately manifested so that the employee is aware of the event causing the injury, the cause of action accrues upon the occurrence of the injury, regardless of whether the full extent of the disability is known at the time. By the same token, with industrial diseases, where the symptoms are not immediately manifested, the cause of action does not accrue until the employee is aware or should be aware of his condition.
Ill. Cent. Gulf R.R. v. Boardman, 431 So. 2d 1126, 1128 (Miss. 1983) (quoting Fletcher v. Union Pac. R.R., 621 F.2d 902 (8th Cir. 1980)). We applied this very same definition in Robinson v. Singing River Hosp. Sys., 732 So. 2d 204, 208 (Miss. 1999), a case arising under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act wherein the plaintiff sustained burns to his calves from hot packs, because the plaintiff knew he was injured when the hot packs were applied. Here, Williams knew she was injured when she fell down the stairs. She may not have known the "full extent of the disability" when she fell, but she did know she was injured. Her injuries were not comparable to a delayed onset industrial disease. The cause of action accrued on November 1, 1999, the date of the fall.
III. WHETHER CLAY COUNTY IS EQUITABLY ESTOPPED FROM ASSERTING THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.
. Williams argues that Clay County should be equitably estopped from asserting a statute of limitations defense. Equitable estoppel can be asserted to a statute of limitations defense to avoid a serious injustice if there is inequitable conduct. Trosclair v. Miss. Dep't of Transp., 757 So. 2d 178, 181 (Miss. 2000). "Estoppel is action or non-action that induces another's reliance thereon, either in the form of action or non-action, to his or her detriment." Carr, 733 So.2d at 265 (quoting Fritsch v. St. Croix Cent. Sch. Dist., 515 N.W.2d 328 (Wis. Ct. App. 1994)). For equitable estoppel to apply, there must be a representation by a party, reliance by the other party, and a change in position by the relying party. Carr, 733 So. 2d at 265. Governmental entities are not immune from equitable estoppel. Id.
. We did not apply equitable estoppel to prevent the State from asserting a statute of limitations defense when the State was diligent in working with the claimant and made attempts to settle the claim. Miss. Dep't of Pub. Safety v. Stringer, 748 So.2d 662, 665 (Miss. 1999). Stringer was in constant contact with the Department of Public Safety after his accident. Id. at 664. He was paid for his property damage, but rejected two offers to settle his other claims. Id. Stringer filed his complaint two years after the accident. Id. Addressing his equitable estoppel argument, we stated, " dditionally, while inequitable or fraudulent conduct does not have to be established to estop an assertion of an inadequate notice of claim defense, inequitable or fraudulent conduct must be established to estop a party from asserting a statute of limitations defense." Id. at 665. We also stated that equitable estoppel should not be applied liberally:
Although under certain circumstances a defendant's actions may be such that estop that defendant from claiming the protection of a statute of limitations, we do not agree that equitable estoppel should be applied so liberally as to allow a plaintiff to assert estoppel where no inequitable behavior is present. Statutes of limitations are well established in our judicial system. We have stated their purpose before as follows:
The primary purpose of statutory time limitations is to compel the exercise of a right of action within a reasonable time. These statutes are founded upon the general experience of society
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