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Gettis v. Green Mountain Economic Development Corp.10/28/2005
ims for "injuries to the person" to be brought within three years after the cause of action accrues. 12 V.S.A. § 512(4). The statute of limitations issue is a question of law, and both parties agree that there are no genuine issues of material fact to prevent our reaching this legal question. For the reasons explained below, we agree that, to the extent plaintiffs seek physical and emotional damages, their claims are time-barred.
21. For several of their claims, plaintiffs seek damages for emotional distress and "mental suffering," and for the physical pain and suffering Ms. Gettis experienced as a result of her arthritic flares. Regardless of the characterization of a cause of action, claims for damages resulting from mental anguish, emotional distress, and personal humiliation are considered "injuries to the person" for purposes of the statute of limitations. Fitzgerald v. Congleton, 155 Vt. 283, 291, 583 A.2d 595, 600 (1990). Plaintiffs do not contest the application of the three-year statute of limitations to their claims for injuries to the person. They filed this suit in Windsor County Superior Court on December 12, 2001, so the claims must have accrued on or after December 12, 1998.
22. Generally, the statute of limitations begins to run at the point when a plaintiff has a cause of action. Rennie v. State, 171 Vt. 584, 586, 762 A.2d 1272, 1275 (2000) (mem.). In personal injury claims governed by 12 V.S.A § 512(4), the cause of action accrues at the time a plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered the basic elements of a cause of action, including the existence of an injury and its causes. Lillicrap v. Martin, 156 Vt. 165, 175, 591 A.2d 41, 46 (1991). This "discovery rule" is meant to prevent the injustice of barring a plaintiff from a deserved remedy simply because a plaintiff may not have been aware of his or her "legal injury" for a considerable time after the events that caused the harm occurred. There is no allegation here that plaintiffs' injuries were undiscovered until a time within the three-year limitations period. Plaintiffs had knowledge of their claims for personal injuries prior to December 12, 1998. They have presented evidence which shows they were aware of an injury as early as October 1997 when Ms. Gettis was hospitalized, and by at least January 1998, they had causally connected the injuries to the stress of their failing business. Thus, under our general statutes of limitation law, including the discovery rule, plaintiffs' claims for personal injury damages are time-barred.
23. Plaintiffs attempt to save their claims for personal injury damages by urging the Court to adopt a "continuing tort" rule. The continuing tort doctrine allows a plaintiff to support his or her cause of action with events that occurred outside of the limitations period by delaying the accrual of a claim until the "the date of the last injury or the date the tortious acts cease." Feltmeier v. Feltmeier, 798 N.E.2d 75, 85 (Ill. 2003).
24. We have never adopted the continuing tort doctrine, although we indicated a variation of it may exist for discrimination cases in Lee v. University of Vermont, 173 Vt. 626, 626-27, 800 A.2d 444, 445-46 (2002) (mem.). In Lee, plaintiff claimed that the University discriminated against him when it classified him as dismissed for inadequate academic performance although he was actually on medical leave. We reversed the trial court's grant of summary judgment because there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether plaintiff had applied for readmission after his dismissal. Id. If he had reapplied, he might have established a "continuing violation" that might have brought his claims within the limitations period, bu
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