S.V. v. R.V. - 933 S.W.2d 1 (Tex. 1996)

Rule:

Statutes of limitations are not directed to the merits of any individual case, they are a result of legislative assessment of the merits of cases in general. The fact that a meritorious claim might thereby be rendered nonassertable is an unfortunate, occasional by-product of the operation of limitations. All statutes of limitations provide some time period during which the cause of action is assertable. However, preclusion of a legal remedy alone is not enough to justify a judicial exception to the statute. The primary purpose of limitations, to prevent litigation of stale or fraudulent claims, must be kept in mind. A principal factor in deciding whether to apply the discovery rule has been to what extent the claim was objectively verifiable.

Facts:

Respondent daughter brought an action against petitioner father that alleged negligent sexual abuse of petitioner before the age of 17. The daughter alleged that she had repressed the memories of the abuse, and brought the action as an adult after she remembered the abuse. The district court directed a verdict against the respondent on the grounds that the discovery rule did not apply in this case, and that the respondent adduced no evidence of abuse. A divided court of appeals reversed and remanded for a new trial. Petitioner father sought review of the decision. 

Issue:

Was the discovery rule applicable in the present case? 

Answer:

No.

Conclusion:

The court reversed the court of appeals and affirmed the judgment of the district court because the daughter's action was subject to the two-year statute of limitations which did not begin to run until her eighteenth birthday, but she brought her action more than four months after the limitations period had expired. The court held that the discovery rule, which tolled the statute of limitations until the discovery of the cause of action, was not applicable to the daughter because there was no physical or other evidence to satisfy the element of objective verifiability for application of the discovery rule.