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Penley v. Honda Motor Co.8/25/2000
ode specifically referencing the particular statute of repose.
In considering whether the TPLA statute of repose is tolled for mental incompetency, we must determine and give effect to the intent of the legislature. See, e.g., Jordan v. Baptist Three Rivers Hosp., 984 S.W.2d 593, 599 (Tenn. 1999). In so doing, we are to examine the "natural and ordinary meaning of the language used" in the TPLA, "without a forced or subtle construction that would limit or extend the meaning of the language." See, e.g., Tuggle v. Allright Parking Sys., Inc., 922 S.W.2d 105, 107 (Tenn. 1996). Where the language of the statute "is clear and unambiguous, then this Court will give effect to the statute according to the plain meaning of its terms." Lavin v. Jordon, 16 S.W.3d 362, 365 (Tenn. 2000); see also Gragg v. Gragg, 12 S.W.3d 412, 415 (Tenn. 2000).
The TPLA ten-year limiting period states that "in any event, an action must be brought within ten (10) years from the date on which the product was first purchased for use or consumption." Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-28-103(a) (emphasis added). When read in context, the language "in any event" carries precisely the same connotation as "notwithstanding other exceptions" or "without regard to any other limitations," and the General Assembly's use of this language compels the conclusion that it intended for the ten-year repose period to be an absolute bar beyond which no products liability cause of action could exist. Because the language is clear, this Court is not in a position to give the statute a construction which is not supported by the language. Consequently, the use of such broad language by the General Assembly weighs very heavily against finding an implied exception to the general ten-year repose period for mental incompetency.
Section 29-28-103(a) also expressly exempts certain causes of action from application of the ten-year statute of repose. For example, the ten-year statute of repose does not strictly apply in the case of minors, who may still bring an action within one year of attaining majority even if the initial ten-year period has long since expired. Tenn. Code Ann. § 29-28-103(a). Moreover, since the original enactment of the TPLA in 1978, the General Assembly has carefully carved out two other exceptions to the statute of repose. In 1979, the legislature exempted asbestos claims from the operation of the statute of repose, 1979 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 162, § 1, and in 1993, the General Assembly extended the ten-year period to twenty-five years for claims arising from injury caused by silicone gel breast implants, 1993 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 457. Any reference to persons of unsound mind, however, is conspicuously absent.
It is a well-established canon of statutory construction that "the mention of one subject in a statute means the exclusion of other subjects that are not mentioned." See, e.g., Carver v. Citizen Util. Co., 954 S.W.2d 34, 35 (Tenn. 1997) (citations omitted). Section 29-28-103 originally contained one express exception to the general ten-year limitations period, and the General Assembly has twice amended the statute since 1978 to include other express exceptions. The failure of the General Assembly to expressly include any provision exempting persons of unsound mind from the statute of repose strongly indicates its desire not to have such an exemption. Accordingly, we will not rewrite this statute to insert other categories not intended by the General Assembly. If the General Assembly intended for mental incapacity to toll the ten-year statute of repose, it could easily have done so while amending the statute to provide for other exceptions.
The plaintiff argues in response that even though the TPLA statute
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