200 Conn. 562 | Conn. | 1986
This is an appeal from a decision of the trial court granting the defendant’s motion for summary judgment in a products liability action. The plaintiffs claim that the trial court erred: (1) in granting the defendant’s motion for summary judgment when there existed genuine issues of material fact; (2) by failing to recognize the plaintiffs’ right to assert a common law cause of action; (3) in refusing to permit the plaintiffs to amend their substitute complaint and reply to special defenses to allege false misrepresentation and fraudulent concealment claims against the defendant; and (4) in not declaring the products liability statute of repose unconstitutional as violative of article first, §§10 and 20, of the Connecticut constitu
The pleadings, affidavits, documents and other information before the trial court on the motion for summary judgment revealed the following facts. The principal plaintiff,
I
Summary Judgment
The plaintiffs’ first claim is that the court erred in granting the defendant’s motion for summary judgment since there existed genuine issues of material fact.
The court concluded that the claims set forth in the substitute complaint did not raise a genuine issue of fact because the defendant had parted with possession and control of the molding machine more than ten years before the filing date of the complaint and, therefore, were time-barred by General Statutes § 52-577a.
“ ‘A trial court may appropriately render summary judgment when the documents submitted demonstrate that there is no genuine issue of material fact remaining between the parties and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Practice Book § 384; Yanow v. Teal Industries, Inc., 178 Conn. 262, 268, 422 A.2d 311 (1979); United Oil Co. v. Urban Redevelopment Commission, 158 Conn. 364, 377-78, 260 A.2d 596 (1969).’ Bartha v. Waterbury House Wrecking Co., 190 Conn. 8, 11, 459 A.2d 115 (1983). See Herman v. Endriss, 187 Conn. 374, 446 A.2d 9 (1982). Once the moving party has presented evidence in support of the motion for summary judgment, the opposing party must present evidence that demonstrates the existence of some disputed factual issue. Bartha v. Waterbury House Wrecking Co., supra,
The plaintiffs’ characterization of the last service call of August 30, 1972, and the courtesy safety check of August 5,1977, as placing the defendant in either possession or control of the molding machine was fanciful at best. The trial court, in explicating the definition of “control,” was correct in stating that to interpret the facts of this case as placing control in the defendant “would stretch the English language to the breaking point.” “It is not enough that one opposing a motion for a summary judgment claims there is a genuine issue of material fact; some evidence showing the existence of such an issue must be presented in the counter affidavit.” Hartmann v. Smith, supra. The plaintiffs failed to submit adequate counteraffidavits and other documentary proof to support their claims
II
Exclusivity and Motion to Amend
A
The plaintiffs’ next claim that the court erred in failing to recognize the common law claims of liability asserted in the complaint. They also argue that General Statutes § 52-577a acts to bar only their statutory rights and not those provided by the common law, and further, that the products liability act, General Statutes §§ 52-572m through 52-572r is not an exclusive remedy.
Our review of the substitute complaint dated November 23, 1982, discloses that the plaintiffs alleged only violations of statutory enactments. Paragraph seventeen of the complaint alleges: “The defendant is liable and legally responsible to the Plaintiff for the Plaintiff s injuries, losses and damages caused by the closing of the machine and the severe injury to his hand by virtue of Connecticut General Statutes [$$] 52-572m through 52-572r . . . .” (Emphasis added.) This paragraph clearly alleges only statutory liability. Paragraphs eighteen
Furthermore, 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. General Statutes § 52-272n (a) states: “A product liability claim . . . may be asserted and shall be in lieu of all other claims against product sellers, including actions of negligence, strict liability and warranty for harm caused by a product.” (Emphasis added.) If the legislature intended to allow a party to plead common law theories, it would not have used the mandatory language “shall be in lieu of.” In construing a statute, the intent of the legislature is to be found not in what it meant to say, but in what it did say. Gomeau v. Forrest, 176 Conn. 523, 526, 409 A.2d 1006 (1979); Sillman v. Sillman, 168 Conn. 144, 148, 358 A.2d 150 (1975); Schwab v. Zoning Board of
B
The plaintiffs further claim that the court erred in refusing to grant their request to amend the substitute complaint and reply to the defendant’s special defenses. They claim that they were given a short period of time within which to conclude discovery and that, as a result of information obtained while they were taking a deposition, they wished to file a substitute complaint giving rise to a new claim of fraudulent concealment and intentional misrepresentation. The trial court knew of the proposed amendments and made mention of the proposed new claims in its memorandum of decision. The plaintiffs acknowledge that the court has wide discretion in deciding whether to grant motions to amend but assert that in the present case, such discretion was abused.
On February 25,1983, the defendant filed a motion for summary judgment. At the plaintiffs’ request the motion lay dormant until July 7,1983, when they filed a motion for denial of summary judgment claiming that they needed additional time to pursue discovery in order to present facts essential to justify opposition to
The plaintiffs claim that the court erred in refusing to grant the plaintiffs’ request for leave to amend the substitute complaint. Amendments are allowed under Practice Book § 176
The court in this case recognized that there already had been substantial delay from February 25,1983, to July 11,1983, and, as a result, took control of the proceedings, set down firm dates for anticipated motions and established a deadline of August 8,1983, for pleadings and motions in anticipation of a court hearing on the summary judgment motion which was scheduled for August 15,1983. The plaintiffs’ request to amend was thus untimely under the circumstances and would have only contributed to further delay. The court has wide latitude in docket control and is responsible for the efficient and orderly movement of cases. Once the court had established a firm timetable for events to occur, the parties were bound by these dates. If the plaintiffs had additional motions they wished to file, they should have acted within the deadline.
The trial court also acted within its discretion in conducting the hearing on the summary judgment motion. At the time, there was no other motion before it and if it had waited another fifteen days, the delay would have violated Judge O’Brien’s explicit and firm orders of July 11, 1983. Further, the record is devoid of any objection to the proceedings held on August 15,1983. There was neither a claim of prejudice nor a request for continuance. The court therefore acted within its discretionary powers in proceeding at that time with the hearing.
Ill
Constitutional Claims
The plaintiffs finally claim that the Connecticut products liability statute of limitations is violative of article first, §§10 and 20, of the Connecticut constitution and the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States constitution. They allege that the statute creates two distinct classes of people, employees who are restricted to a ten year limitation of repose, and all others who can claim damages at any time provided they can prove that the harm occurred during the useful safe life of the product. They further claim that the limitation placed on the employees prematurely aborts their right to redress before an actual claim accrues. By this statute, it is claimed that employees are denied equal protection of the laws under the United States and Connecticut constitutions and
A
We turn first to the claim that General Statutes § 52-577a (a) denies employees equal protection of the laws. The plaintiffs argue that to deny employees the right to institute actions after ten years from the date of the relinquishment of possession and control of the product by manufacturers while allowing others the right to institute claims during the “useful safe life” of the product is invidious discrimination. The first class of persons consists of those individuals who are injured by products older than ten years and who are entitled to workers’ compensation as a result of their injury. The second class of persons created by Connecticut’s product liability statute of repose is composed of individuals injured by defective products who are not entitled to workers’ compensation. The rights of the first class are extinguished ten years from the date that the manufacturer or party defendant last parted with possession or control of the product while those in the second class are able to establish that the injury occurred during the “useful safe life” of the product. Claiming that the distinction between the two classifications is discriminatory, the plaintiffs state that the classification has no rational basis in a legitimate state
“The equal protection provisions of the federal and state constitutions have the same meaning and limitations.” Keogh v. Bridgeport, 187 Conn. 53, 66, 444 A.2d 225 (1982). The relevant inquiry is whether the classification and disparate treatment inherent in the statute of repose legislation bears a rational relationship to a legitimate state end and is based on reasons related to the accomplishment of that goal. McDonald v. Board of Election Commissioners, 394 U.S. 802, 808-809, 89 S. Ct. 1404, 22 L. Ed. 2d 739 (1969); Gentile v. Altermatt, 169 Conn. 267, 295, 363 A.2d 1 (1975), appeal dismissed, 423 U.S. 1041, 96 S. Ct. 763, 46 L. Ed. 2d 631 (1976). “ ‘[T]he Fourteenth Amendment does not deny to States the power to treat different classes of persons in different ways. Barbier v. Connolly, 113 U.S. 27 [5 S. Ct. 357, 28 L. Ed. 923] (1885); Lindsley v. National Carbonic Gas Co., 220 U.S. 61 [31 S. Ct. 337, 55 L. Ed. 369] (1911); Railway Express Agency v. New York, 336 U.S. 106 [69 S. Ct. 463, 93 L. Ed. 533] (1949); McDonald v. Board of Election Commissioners, [supra]. The equal protection clause of that amendment does, however, deny to States the power to legislate that different treatment
During the period 1971 to 1975 there was a growing number of complaints concerning the problems of product liability claims and manufacturers’ ability to obtain adequate insurance coverage. These complaints were nationwide and created a deep concern among state and national governments. As a result of these concerns a federal interagency task force was appointed to research the problem in depth and present recommendations. Involved in this nationwide study were federal agencies, consumers, manufacturers, insurers, and other interested parties. After a complete and thorough investigation considering the desires and needs of all segments involved, the task force made substantial recommendations for consideration by legislative bodies and affected interests. One of the recommendations of the task force was a system that would establish worker compensation as the sole source of recovery for a worker injured by a defective product in the course of employment or, in the alternative, the enactment of a statute of repose that would limit the responsibility of a manufacturer of workplace goods to ten years from the date of sale. U. S. Dept, of Commerce, Interagency Task Force on Product Liability: Final Report (1977), reprinted in 4A Frumer & Friedman, Products Liability (1984) Appendix G, App-1048 (1984). The Connecticut legislature considered various factors in arriving at its
The classification made by the legislature in passing General Statutes § 52-577a is reasonable, not arbitrary, and rests upon a difference having a fair and substantial relation to the object of the legislation. The legislature had a legitimate problem before it which required examination, analysis and solution. The myriad problems associated with the growing crisis needed immediate attention. On the basis of the information available, the legislature assessed the relative merits of including a different statute of repose for workers eligible for workers’ compensation and concluded that the benefits of the workers’ compensation program justified a ten year limitation. This conclusion was bolstered by the fact that, at the time, many states were either considering or had already passed product liability tort reform laws incorporating a form of statute of limitations. See note, “The Constitutionality of Connecticut’s Product Liability Statute of Repose,” 6 U. Bridgeport L. Rev. 49 (1985). The Connecticut legislature was then under the belief that the actions of so many states, most of which
The plaintiffs argue that the legislation lacked a rational basis because the crisis in the product liability area has since subsided. We disagree. This statute was passed as part of a program to cure a serious nationwide problem. As a result of this statute and others, stability and an orderly process have been restored to the field. To now take a regressive step such as obviating the statute would probably regenerate a similar type of crisis as that which previously existed. This could result in an unending series of legislative actions which would have a “yo-yo” effect requiring new legislation each time a crisis occurs and then subsides. To undo this remedial measure could lead to the prior state of affairs which caused the original crisis. The reason
The plaintiffs also claim that the statute of limitations is irrational in view of the Model Product Liability Act’s inclusion of a statute of repose based on the “useful safe life” of the product. Under the Model Act, the consumer is allowed to bring an action seeking recovery for injuries sustained against a manufacturer providing he can prove that the product is within its “useful safe life,” regardless of the age of the product. To do so, however, he needs to satisfy two threshold requisites: (1) proof that the product is within the “useful safe life,” and (2) proof that the product was so defective as to cause injury and damage to the consumer. Under the workers’ compensation act, an employee need only file his claim to be entitled automatically to benefits under the workers’ compensation laws. The average consumer is protected for the useful safe life upon proof of certain essential factors whereas the employee is also protected for the period of his employment, albeit to a lesser monetary degree. This trade-off of responsibilities and benefits potentially available between the two classes of people is certainly reasonable and protective of the rights of individuals within both classes. The federal task force concluded that it would be reasonable to limit the responsibility of manufacturers of workplace goods to ten years. Task Force Report, supra, App-1048. We agree with the task force recommendation and conclude that the statute provides a “rational basis” for the action of the legislature in furthering a legitimate state goal.
The plaintiffs’ final claim is that the statute of limitations is unconstitutional because it bars a cause of action even before it accrues, and, as such, is violative of article first, § 10, of the Connecticut constitution which provides: “[a]ll courts shall be open, and every person, for any injury done to him in his person, property or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law, and right and justice administered without sale, denial or delay.” The plaintiffs claim that § 52-577a is unconstitutional as applied to them because, if workers are injured on the job by equipment older than the statutory limitations, their causes of action could be absolutely foreclosed even before they might arise. They argue that under these circumstances, workers are limited to workers’ compensation benefits and are deprived of their state constitutional right to seek redress in the courts.
“Statutes of limitation are statutes of repose, and are such legislative enactments as prescribe the periods within which actions may be brought upon certain claims or within which certain rights may be enforced.” Black’s Law Dictionary (5th Ed. 1979), p. 835. The effect of the statute of repose is that, on occasion, a party’s cause of action will be barred even before the action began to accrue. There are two principal reasons generally given for the enactment of a statute of repose: (1) it reflects a policy of law, as declared by the legislature, that after a given length of time a manufacturer should be sheltered from liability and furthers “the public policy of allowing people, after the lapse of a reasonable time, to plan their affairs with a degree of certainty, free from the disruptive burden of protracted and unknown potential liability”; Johnson v. Star Machinery Co., 270 Or. 694, 701, 530 P.2d 53 (1974); and (2) to avoid the difficulty in proof and record
The purpose of the statute of repose contained in § 52-577a is, as noted above, to provide an orderly, equitable process by which the products liability crisis could be eased without unreasonably depriving individuals of their right of redress. The statute cuts off a product liability claim at a prescribed period of time after the product seller or manufacturer has parted with the product even though the repose period may expire before an individual has been injured and the cause of action has begun to accrue. “ ‘At times, it may bar the assertion of a just claim. Then its application causes hardship. The legislature has found [,however,] that such occasional hardship is outweighed by the advantage of outlawing stale claims.’ ” Kennedy v. Johns-Manville Sales Corporation, 135 Conn. 176, 179-80, 62 A.2d 771 (1948), quoting Schmidt v. Merchants Despatch Transportation Co., 270 N.Y. 287, 302, 200 N.E. 824 (1936). For example, some of the evidentiary problems that may arise in connection with trying cases involving older products include the fact that an older product is more likely to have undergone misuse or alteration since manufacture, the possibility that a jury may inappropriately apply a standard reflecting subsequent technological development when assessing liability, and the fact that witnesses and documents may be difficult to obtain. See Martin, “A Statute of Repose for Product Liability Claims,” 50 Fordham L. Rev. 745, 747-48 (1982).
We cannot accept the plaintiffs’ claim that the product liability statute of repose, General Statutes § 52-577a, acts to deny them their right to redress for injuries in violation of article first, § 10 of the Connecticut constitution. The concerns raised by the plaintiffs that the statute of repose may outlaw a claim even
There is no error.
In this opinion the other justices concurred.
Bernard Daily, the father of Bernard J. Daily, was also a party plaintiff in this action.
The dates of the service calls were August 19,1963, January 3, 1964, December 7, 1967, July 11, 1968, and August 30, 1972.
On July 14, 1983, Joseph W. Doherty, deputy chief clerk, notified all counsel of record that the hearing on the motion for summary judgment would be heard on August 15, 1983.
On August 5,1983, the plaintiffs filed a memorandum of law opposing the defendant’s motion for summary judgment and on August 8,1983, they filed the affidavit of the plaintiff Bernard J. Daily.
“[General Statutes] Sec. 52-577a. limitation op 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. ...”
6 The trial court in its memorandum of decision on the motion for summary judgment wrote: “For the purpose of this motion I must assume that the various allegations by the plaintiff as to negligence or other breaches of duty by the defendant are factually correct. There remains, however, the legal consequences which would flow therefrom.
“The limitation provision upon which the defendant relies is Connecticut General Statutes Section 52-577a which provides in part:
‘(a) No product liability claim as defined in section 52-572m . . . may be brought against any party . . . later than ten years from the date that the party last parted with possession or control of the product.’
“Clearly the key words are ‘possession or control,’ for it is uncontroverted that the machine came into physical possession of Harkness approximately
“ ‘Possession’ is defined in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary as: ‘the act or condition of having in or taking into one’s control or having at one’s disposal . . . actual physical control or occupancy of property by one who holds for himself and not as servant of another without regard to his ownership and who has legal rights to assert interests in the property against all others having no better right than himself.’ “Black’s Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition, gives this definition: ‘The detention and control, or the manual or ideal custody, of anything which may be the subject of property, for one’s use and enjoyment .... That condition of facts under which one can exercise his power over a corporeal thing at his pleasure to the exclusion of all other persons.’
“ ‘Control’ is defined in Webster’s as: ‘power or authority to guide or manage: directing or restraining domination.’
“Black’s states the following: ‘Power or authority to manage, direct, superintend, restrict, regulate, govern, administer or oversee . . . power or right to order or direct . . . exercise restraining or directing influence over.’
“To the same effect is Ballentine’s Law Dictionary, Third Edition: ‘To check, restrain, govern, have under command and authority .... A position of authority in direction and management.’
“To characterize the service call of August 30,1972, or the courtesy safety check of August 5, 1977, as placing the defendant in either possession or control of the machine would stretch the English language to the breaking point. If the Legislature meant that isolated servicing done at the direction of the purchaser were to toll the statute of repose, it could readily have said so. Instead it used words which in common parlance are not understood to have such meaning. The meaning to be given words is clearly a matter of law and is exclusively within the function of the trier of law and not the trier of fact.”
“[Practice Book] Sec. 380. —proceedings upon motion
“A motion for summary judgment shall be supported by such documents as may be appropriate, including but not limited to affidavits, certified transcripts of testimony under oath, disclosures, written admissions and the like. The motion shall be placed on the short calendar to be held not less than fifteen days following the filing of the motion and the supporting materials, unless the court otherwise directs. The adverse party prior to the day the case is set down for short calendar shall file opposing affidavits and other available documentary evidence. Affidavits, and other documentary proof not already a part of the file, shall be filed and served as are pleadings.”
Paragraph 18 of the substitute complaint, dated November 23, 1982, provides:
“Further the defendant is liable and legally responsible to the plaintiff for the plaintiffs injuries, losses and damages caused by the closing of the
Paragraph 19 of the substitute complaint, dated November 23,1982 provides:
“Further the defendant is liable and legally responsible to the plaintiff for the plaintiff’s injuries, losses and damages caused by the closing of the machine and the severe injury to his hand by virtue of Connecticut General Statutes 7§§7 S2-572m through 52-572r because the machine reached the plaintiff as a user without substantial change in the condition in which it was sold and because the machine was in a defective condition, as to its design and manufacturing, unreasonably dangerous to the plaintiff as user and continued to be so defective throughout the useful life of the product . . . .” (Emphasis added.)
“[Practice Book] Sec. 176. —amendment by consent, order of COURT, OR FAILURE TO OBJECT
“Except as provided in Sec. 182, a party may amend his pleadings or other parts of the record or proceedings at any time subsequent to that stated in the preceding section in the following manner:
“(a) By order of court; or “(b) By written consent of the adverse party; or “(c) By filing a request for leave to file such amendment, with the amendment appended, after service upon each party as provided by Sec. 120, and with proof of service endorsed thereon. If no objection thereto has been filed by any party within fifteen days from the date of the filing of said request, the amendment shall be deemed to have been filed by consent of the adverse party. If an opposing party shall have objection to any part of such request or the amendment appended thereto, such objection in writing, specifying the particular paragraph or paragraphs to which there is objection and the reasons therefor, shall, after service upon each party as provided by Sec. 120 and with proof of service endorsed thereon, be filed with the clerk within the time specified above and placed upon the next short calendar list.
“The court may restrain such amendments so far as may be necessary to compel the parties to join issue in a reasonable time for trial. If the amendment occasions delay in the trial or inconvenience to the other party, the court may award costs in its discretion in his favor. For the purposes of this rule, a substituted pleading shall be considered an amendment.”
Although the plaintiffs did not articulate their constitutional claims as fully or as clearly as required, the contested issues were raised sufficiently to warrant review on appeal. “[T]his court, in matters of significant public moment where the public interest would best be served by a dispersal of all constitutional clouds over the act in question, will exercise that discretion and decide all closely related issues.” Gentile v. Altermatt, 169 Conn. 267, 281, 363 A.2d 1 (1975); Heiberger v. Clark, 148 Conn. 177, 184, 169 A.2d 652 (1961); West v. Egan, 142 Conn. 437, 441, 115 A.2d 322 (1955); Ruppert v. Liquor Control Commission, 138 Conn. 669, 673, 88 A.2d 388 (1952).
The constitution of Connecticut, article first, § 20, provides: “No person shall be denied the equal protection of the law nor be subjected to segregation or discrimination in the exercise or enjoyment of his civil or political rights because of religion, race, color, ancestry or national origin.”
The constitution of the United States, amendment fourteen, § 1, provides: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
General Statutes (Rev. to 1949) § 8324, (now § 52-584) provides: “limitation OF ACTION FOR INJURY TO PERSON OR PROPERTY. No action to recover damages for injury to the person, or to real or personal property, caused by negligence, or by reckless or wanton misconduct, or by malpractice of a physicia.n, surgeon, dentist, chiropodist, chiropractor, hospital or sanatorium, shall be brought but within one year from the date of the act or omission complained of, except that a counter-claim may be interposed in an action which has been brought within the year at any time before the pleadings in such action are finally closed.”