Albright v. White

• Decision Date: 22 June 1998
• Docket Number: No. 24111.,24111.
• Citation: 202 W.Va. 292,503 S.E.2d 860
• Court: West Virginia Supreme Court
• Parties: Richard ALBRIGHT, Plaintiff Below, Appellant, v. H. Willard WHITE and The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of West Virginia, Defendants Below, Appellees.

503 S.E.2d 860

202 W.Va. 292

Richard ALBRIGHT, Plaintiff Below, Appellant, v. H. Willard WHITE and The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of West Virginia, Defendants Below, Appellees.

No. 24111.

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Submitted March 17, 1998.

Decided June 22, 1998.

Paul J. Harris, Frank P. Bush, Jr., Harris & Bush, Elkins; J. David Flowers, Paul J. Doolittle, Ness, Motley, Loadholt, Richardson & Poole, Greenville, SC, for Appellant.

James M. Wilson, Steptoe & Johnson, Clarksburg; Ancil G. Ramey, Steptoe & Johnson, Charleston, for Appellee, H. Willard White.

Paul E. Frampton, Bowles, Rice, McDavid, Graff & Love, Fairmont; David S. Rutherford, Christopher Renzulli, Renzulli, Gainey & Rutherford, New York, NY, for Appellee, The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of West Virginia.

DAVIS, Chief Justice:

The plaintiff below, and appellant herein, Richard Albright appeals an order of the Circuit Court of Harrison County, entered September 6, 1996, dismissing his civil action as barred by the applicable statutory filing periods. On appeal to this Court, Albright contends that the circuit court erroneously determined his action to be time barred pursuant to W. Va.Code § 55-2-15 (1923) (Repl. Vol.1994) and W. Va.Code § 55-2-12(b) (1959) (Repl.Vol.1994) when, pursuant to the "discovery rule," he claims that his complaint was timely filed. He also asserts that W. Va.Code § 55-2-15, which precludes any cause of action for injuries to a minor child if such cause is not brought within two years after the child reaches the age of majority and within twenty years after the injury occurred, is unconstitutional because it denies equal protection. After reviewing the parties' arguments, the record of the proceedings below, and the pertinent authorities, we affirm the ruling of the circuit court.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The factual history of this particular appeal is rather complex.¹ In May, 1994, Richard Albright, the plaintiff below [hereinafter Albright], underwent therapy. During these sessions, Albright claims to have remembered an incident of sexual abuse² allegedly perpetrated by the defendant below, H. Willard White [hereinafter White], an Episcopal priest, some twenty-five years earlier.³ Albright professes to recall that in 1969, White engaged in sexual conduct with him. At the time of the alleged sexual abuse, Albright was approximately eleven years old. Thereafter, at some undetermined point during his adulthood, Albright sought counseling, and, as noted above, allegedly recalled the above-mentioned sexual abuse during one such therapy session.

It appears from the record that Albright subsequently learned information tending to indicate that the defendant below, the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of West Virginia [hereinafter the Church],⁴ may have known of White's alleged proclivity for deviant sexual behavior. Despite the Church apparently having knowledge of White's propensities, Albright avers that the Church failed to alert its parishioners of the potential danger to their children.

On March 26, 1996, Albright filed a civil action in the Circuit Court of Harrison County charging both White and the Church with intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress; breach of fiduciary duty and duty in loco parentis; civil conspiracy; and fraudulent concealment. He also alleged that White had committed battery⁵ and had been negligent in failing to control his sexual propensities. Further, Albright averred that the Church had been negligent in failing to disclose White's history of deviant sexual behavior and that it was vicariously liable for White's actions.

The Church responded to Albright's complaint by filing a motion to dismiss. Subsequently, White also filed a motion to dismiss Albright's complaint. In sum, the motions requested dismissal pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure,⁶ asserting that "the claims are time barred by the applicable statute of limitations." By order entered September 6, 1996, the circuit court rejected Albright's arguments and granted the defendants' motions to dismiss, finding as follows:

The Court, after carefully considering the memoranda submitted by the parties in connection with the motions, the arguments of counsel and the entire record in this action, is of the opinion that plaintiff's claims against the defendants are time-barred. In his complaint, plaintiff alleges that the tortious conduct occurred sometime in 1969, but that he repressed the memory of it until 1994. Based upon such allegations, plaintiff's cause of action is barred by the two year limitation period provided by Section 55-2-12(b)[⁷] of the West Virginia Code. Moreover, since plaintiff's alleged cause of action accrued almost 27 years prior to the institution of this action, the tolling provisions of Section 55-2-15[⁸] are of no benefit to plaintiff given the plain and unambiguous language of that provision that places a 20 year limitation from the time a cause of action accrues.

Plaintiff argued that the two year limitation period should not begin to run until 1994 when he recalled the alleged tortious conduct. The Court is of the opinion that the "discovery rule" is not applicable to the facts of this case where plaintiff claims to have "repressed" his memory of the events upon which his claim is based.

The Court, therefore, is of the opinion that defendants' motions to dismiss should be granted and that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law on each count of the complaint. It is, therefore, ORDERED and ADJUDGED that defendants' motions to dismiss are hereby granted and that this action is hereby dismissed with prejudice, to all of which plaintiff excepts and objects.

From this ruling of the Circuit Court of Harrison County, Albright appeals to this Court.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The procedural posture of this appeal requires us to ascertain whether the circuit court properly granted the defendants' motion to dismiss Albright's complaint. When ruling upon a motion to dismiss brought pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure, a circuit court must determine whether the complaint has "state[d] a claim upon which relief can be granted," W.Va.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), and must "constru[e] the factual allegations in the light most favorable to the plaintiff[]," Murphy v. Smallridge, 196 W.Va. 35, 36, 468 S.E.2d 167, 168 (1996) (citation omitted). Consistent with this directive, we have often stated that "a motion to dismiss should be granted only where ` "it is clear that no relief could be granted under any set of facts that could be proved consistent with the allegations."'" Ewing v. Board of Educ. of County of Summers, 202 W.Va. 228, 235, 503 S.E.2d 541, 548 (1998) (quoting Murphy v. Smallridge, 196 W.Va. at 36, 468 S.E.2d at 168 (quoting Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 2232, 81 L.Ed.2d 59, 65 (1984)) (additional citation omitted)). Once a circuit court has decided to grant a motion to dismiss, "[a]ppellate review of a circuit court's order granting a motion to dismiss a complaint is de novo." Syl. pt. 2, State ex rel. McGraw v. Scott Runyan Pontiac-Buick, Inc., 194 W.Va. 770, 461 S.E.2d 516 (1995).

Appellant Albright also requests this Court to review the propriety of the circuit court's interpretation of the statutory filing periods it deemed applicable to Albright's claims. "`"Where the issue on an appeal from the circuit court is clearly a question of law or involving the interpretation of a statute, we apply a de novo standard of review." Syllabus point 1, Chrystal R.M. v. Charlie A.L., 194 W.Va. 138, 459 S.E.2d 415 (1995).' Syllabus point 1, University of West Virginia Board of Trustees ex rel. West Virginia University v. Fox, 197 W.Va. 91, 475 S.E.2d 91 (1996)." Syl. pt. 3, Ewing v. Board of Educ. of County of Summers, 202 W.Va. 228, 503 S.E.2d 541. Having set forth the applicable standards of review, we now turn our attention to Albright's assignments of error.

III. DISCUSSION

On appeal to this Court, Albright assigns as error the applicability of statutory filing periods and the constitutionality of W. Va. Code § 55-2-15. First, he complains that the circuit court erred by determining his claims to be time-barred by the statutory time limits contained in W. Va.Code § 55-2-15 (1923) (Repl.Vol.1994), pertaining to causes of action accruing during a plaintiff's infancy or incompetency, and the statute of limitations set forth in W. Va.Code § 55-2-12(b) (1959) (Repl.Vol.1994), governing personal injury actions generally, and by concluding that the discovery rule did not operate to extend these statutory filing periods. Albright also challenges the constitutionality of W. Va.Code § 55-2-15 and states that because this provision is unconstitutional, the time limits contained therein cannot bar the maintenance of his cause of action against the defendants.⁹

A. Statutory Filing Periods

Albright first assigns as error the circuit court's determination that his claims were time barred by the filing periods contained in W. Va.Code § 55-2-15 and W. Va.Code § 55-2-12(b). He further contests the circuit court's decision that the discovery rule does not operate, under the circumstances of this case, to extend either of these statutory time limits so as to render his complaint timely filed.

1. W.Va.Code § 55-2-15

Albright first argues that the statutory filing periods of W. Va.Code § 55-2-15¹⁰ do not limit his ability to bring his claim because he was not under a disability due to infancy or insanity at the time his cause of action accrued.¹¹ See Donley v. Bracken, 192 W.Va. 383, 452 S.E.2d 699 (1994)

(explaining disability provisions of W. Va.Code § 55-2-15). He suggests that the time limitations of § 55-2-15 are applicable only when a plaintiff presumably is incapable of recognizing his/her right of recovery because he/she is...