Phinney v. Morgan - 39 Mass. App. Ct. 202, 654 N.E.2d 77 (1995)

Rule:

Claims for negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress are governed by Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, § 2A, which provides that suit shall be commenced only within three years next after the cause of action accrues.

Facts:

Plaintiff daughters brought an action against their mother for negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress. They alleged that their mother failed to protect them from sexual abuse by their father during their childhood. The defendant mother filed a motion for summary judgment on the sole ground that their action was barred because it was not brought within three years of the daughters' attaining the age of majority, as provided in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, §§ 2A, 7. The trial court denied the motion on the ground that the "discovery rule" applied to their claims and, therefore, when their cause of action accrued presented a question of fact for the jury. Defendant mother appealed. 

Issue:

Was the plaintiffs’ claim against their mother barred by statute of limitations on the basis of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260, §§ 2A, 7? 

Answer:

Yes.

Conclusion:

The court reversed and remanded. The court held that the discovery rule applied to tort claims arising out of incestuous child abuse which were not governed by statute. The court held however that summary judgment was proper because the daughters failed as matter of law to sustain their burden of showing that they did not know and could not have known that they had been harmed by their mother's failure to protect them from their father's sexual abuse more than three years before they instituted their action.