Legal Question in Civil Litigation in North Carolina

Re: Need to know how statute of limitations is applied in tort cases

3 years. you didn't give much information, so hard to say whether Statute can be tolled for some reason. Plenty of cases out there which discuss this issue. You can even do a google search to find some of them rather easily. Here is one. Leonard v. England No. 9326SC868 (Filed 7 June 1994)

Limitations, Repose, and Laches 119 (NCI4th)-- emotional distress -- repressed memories -- battery -- intentional infliction of incompetent plaintiff -- statute of limitations tolled In the 39-year-old plaintiff's action against her grandmother for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress which allegedly occurred when plaintiff was a child, she produced sufficient evidence that her repression of memories and post-traumatic stress syndrome suffered as a result of her grandmother's alleged sexual, physical, and emotional abuse rendered plaintiff "incompetent" within the meaning of N.C.G.S. 35A-1101(7), thereby tolling the statutes of limitations so that summary judgment for defendant was improper. N.C.G.S. 1-17(a).

Under North Carolina law, the statute of limitations for a claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress is three years,

N.C.G.S. 1-52(5) (1993); see King v. Cape Fear Mem. Hosp., 96 N.C. App. 338, 385 S.E.2d 812 (1989), cert. denied, 326 N.C. 265,

389 S.E.2d 114 (1990) (because not specifically denominated under any limitations statute, claim for emotional distress falls under general three-year provision of Section 1-52(5)), These provisions are subject to expansion, however, by North Carolina's "discovery" and "disabilities" statutes. The discovery statute provides that personal injury causes of action "shall not

accrue until bodily harm to the claimant . . . becomes apparent or ought reasonably to have become apparent to the claimant."

N.C.G.S. 1-52(16) (1993). The disabilities statute provides in pertinent part that (a) A person entitled to commence an action

who is at the time the cause of action accrued either

(1) Within the age of 18 years;

(2) Insane; or

(3) Incompetent as defined in G.S. 35A-

1101(7) or (8) may bring his action

. . . within three years next after

the removal of the disability, and

at no time thereafter.