203 Conn. 156 | Conn. | 1987
This case concerns the applicability and the constitutionality of the ten year statute of limitations for product liability claims; General Statutes § 52-577a (a)
These appeals are entirely governed by our recent decision in Daily v. New Britain Machine Co., 200 Conn. 562, 512 A.2d 893 (1986). There, as here, an action was brought to recover for injuries resulting from the use of a machine more than ten years after its vendor had parted with possession and control thereof. There, too, the trial court granted the defendant vendor’s motion for summary judgment on the ground that the action was time barred. Concluding that the judgment should be affirmed, we held that § 52-577a is a complete defense to such a vendor because “the products liability statute provides an exclusive remedy and the plaintiffs cannot bring a common law cause of action for a claim within the scope of the statute.” Id., 571. We also held that § 52-577a does not violate the rights established by article first, §§10 and 20, of the Connecticut constitution or the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States constitution. Id., 575-86. We specifically considered and rejected the argument, made by the plaintiff in this case, that § 52-577a deprives her of the constitutional
There is no error.
General Statutes § 52-577a (a) provides: “limitation of action based ON product liability claim, (a) No product liability claim as defined in section 52-572m shall be brought but within three years from the date when the injury, death or property damage is first sustained or discovered or in the exercise of reasonable care should have been discovered except that, subject to subsections (c) and (d), no such action may be brought against any party nor may any party be impleaded pursuant to subsection (b) later than ten years from the date that the party last parted with possession or control of the product.”