Zumpano v. Quinn

• Decision Date: 21 February 2006
• Citation: 849 N.E.2d 926,6 N.Y.3d 666
• Parties: John S. ZUMPANO, Appellant, v. James F. QUINN, Individually and as Assistant Pastor at St. Agnes Catholic School, et al., Respondents. Estate of Brendan Boyle, Deceased, et al., Appellants, v. James Smith et al., Defendants, and Otto Garcia et al., Respondents.
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

Page 926

849 N.E.2d 926

6 N.Y.3d 666

John S. ZUMPANO, Appellant, v. James F. QUINN, Individually and as Assistant Pastor at St. Agnes Catholic School, et al., Respondents. Estate of Brendan Boyle, Deceased, et al., Appellants, v. James Smith et al., Defendants, and Otto Garcia et al., Respondents.

Court of Appeals of New York.

February 21, 2006.

Frank Policelli, Utica, for appellant in the first above-entitled action.

Hancock & Estabrook, LLP, Syracuse (Mark J. Schulte and Paul M. Hanrahan of counsel), for respondents in the first above-entitled action.

Michael G. Dowd, New York City, and Edward M. Shaw for appellants in the second above-entitled action.

Conway, Farrell, Curtin & Kelly, P.C., New York City (Joseph H. Farrell, Jonathan T. Uejio and Kristin G. Shea of counsel), for respondents in the second above-entitled action.

Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP, New York City and Washington, DC (Steven Bierman, Joseph R. Guerra and Eamon P. Joyce of counsel), for American Tort Reform Association, amicus curiae in the second above-entitled action.

OPINION OF THE COURT

CIPARICK, J.

In recent years, countless priests have been accused of impermissibly touching and sexually exploiting young people entrusted to their care, resulting in a plethora of claims seeking compensation for the injuries caused by these deplorable acts. Regrettably, many of these claims are time-barred, and absent relief from the Legislature will remain unredressed. Two such cases are before us today.

At the outset, we note that these cases present only the legal question whether equitable estoppel applies to toll the statutes of limitations for plaintiffs' claims. The merits of these claims are not before us and we have no occasion to pass upon the strength of the allegations. Plaintiffs, moreover, concede that the applicable statutes of limitations have expired. They assert, however, that defendants should be equitably estopped from invoking the statute of limitations as a defense. We conclude that the actions are time-barred.

Zumpano v. Quinn

Zumpano commenced this action in 2003 against defendant Father Quinn, as well as both the Bishop and Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, alleging an ongoing abusive relationship beginning in 1963 — when he was 13 years old — and continuing until 1970. The complaint, brought 33 years later, alleges causes of action for sexual abuse, battery, breach of fiduciary duty and negligent retention and/or supervision.

Defendants moved to dismiss the complaint under CPLR 3211(a) (5), alleging that Zumpano's claims were barred by the appropriate statutes of limitations. In response, Zumpano argued that the statute of limitations should be tolled by CPLR 208 because he suffered from a mental disability created by defendants' conduct, rendering him unable to function in society or to protect his own legal rights. Supreme Court granted the motion and determined that Zumpano's claim was not tolled by the insanity provisions of CPLR 208, and was time-barred. The court also rejected the argument that equitable estoppel should be applied to toll the statute of limitations. The Appellate Division affirmed, finding that Zumpano failed to allege any separate acts by defendants — subsequent to the alleged abuse — that resulted in his delay in bringing this action. We now affirm.

Estate of Boyle v. Smith

Forty-two plaintiffs instituted this action in October 2002 — likewise for clergy sexual abuse — against 13 individual priests, a monsignor and both the Bishop and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. The complaint alleges that each plaintiff was the victim of at least one sexually abusive act by a defendant priest. Most of the acts occurred while plaintiffs were minor children, between 1960 and 1985.¹ All plaintiffs apparently reached adulthood by 1990.

Plaintiffs asserted several causes of action, including intentional torts of sexual abuse and battery, and negligence causes of action such as failure to supervise, failure to warn and negligent retention. Plaintiffs also asserted a cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty. Specifically, plaintiffs alleged that the bishops and the Diocese were aware that the priests had abused children and that they engaged in a corrupt campaign and a pattern of concealment by failing to investigate and report the conduct to law enforcement authorities, transferring abusive priests to different parishes and making secret payments to victims and their families in return for their silence. As a result of this conduct, plaintiffs allege that they "were deprived of the knowledge of the essential factual elements which would have formed the basis of their rights to legal redress."

Defendants moved to dismiss the complaint under CPLR 3211 arguing, among other things, that the action was barred by the statute of limitations. As in Zumpano, plaintiffs conceded that the applicable limitations period had run, but asserted that defendants should be equitably estopped from invoking the statute of limitations as a defense. Supreme Court granted defendants' motion, finding that equitable estoppel did not apply because plaintiffs had adequate knowledge of the facts and circumstances underlying their claims and had sufficient time to inquire and discover the relevant facts before the statute of limitations expired. The court also found no fiduciary relationship between the parties.

The Appellate Division affirmed, concluding that plaintiffs had personal knowledge of the relevant facts yet failed to timely pursue their claims. Further, the Court noted that, even assuming the existence of a fiduciary relationship, equitable estoppel would not apply because they did not commence this action within a reasonable time after they reached the age of majority and were free from defendants' supervision and control. We now affirm.

Equitable Estoppel

Although sometimes imposing hardship on a plaintiff with a meritorious claim, statutes of limitations "reflect the legislative judgment that individuals should be protected from stale claims" (McCarthy v. Volkswagen of Am., 55 N.Y.2d 543, 548, 450 N.Y.S.2d 457, 435 N.E.2d 1072 [1982]). They cannot be deemed arbitrary or unreasonable solely on the basis of a harsh effect.

The doctrine of equitable estoppel applies where it would be unjust to allow a defendant to assert a statute of limitations defense.

"Our courts have long had the power, both at law and equity, to bar the assertion of the affirmative defense of the Statute of Limitations where it is the defendant's affirmative wrongdoing ... which produced the long delay between the accrual of the cause of action and the institution of the legal proceeding" (General Stencils v. Chiappa, 18 N.Y.2d 125, 128, 272 N.Y.S.2d 337, 219 N.E.2d 169 [1966]).

Thus, this Court has held that equitable estoppel will apply "where plaintiff was induced by fraud, misrepresentations or deception to refrain from filing a timely action" (Simcuski v. Saeli, 44 N.Y.2d 442, 449, 406 N.Y.S.2d 259, 377 N.E.2d 713 [1978]). Moreover, the plaintiff must demonstrate reasonable reliance on the defendant's misrepresentations (see Simcuski, 44 N.Y.2d at 449, 406 N.Y.S.2d 259, 377 N.E.2d 713).

Citing General Stencils, plaintiffs argue that defendants cannot be permitted to benefit from their own wrongdoing. In General Stencils, defendant was plaintiff's head bookkeeper who stole from her employer and concealed her theft for several years by misrepresenting the state of plaintiff's finances. We held that defendant was equitably estopped from asserting a statute of limitations defense precisely because her affirmative conduct in concealing the crime prevented plaintiff from timely bringing its action (see 18 N.Y.2d at 128, 272 N.Y.S.2d 337, 219 N.E.2d 169). A defendant/wrongdoer cannot take affirmative steps to prevent a plaintiff from bringing a claim and then assert the statute of limitations as a defense. However, if the doctrine of equitable estoppel were to be applied as broadly as plaintiffs suggest, the statute of limitations would rarely be available as a defense. Plaintiffs' proposed rule would revive any lapsed claim where the defendant inflicted some type of injury upon a knowing plaintiff but failed to come forward with further information about his or her wrongdoing.

It is therefore fundamental to the application of equitable estoppel for plaintiffs to establish that subsequent and specific actions by defendants somehow kept them from timely bringing suit (see Matter of Steyer, 70 N.Y.2d 990, 993, 526 N.Y.S.2d 422, 521 N.E.2d 429 [1988]). Plaintiffs have failed to satisfy this burden. As observed by the lower courts, each plaintiff was aware of the sexual abuse he or she suffered at the hands of defendant priests. Certainly they had sufficient knowledge to bring an intentional tort cause of action against the individual priests. Plaintiffs were likewise aware that the priests were employees of the dioceses and could have brought actions against the dioceses, or at least investigated whether a basis for such actions existed. Plaintiffs do not allege they made timely complaints to the dioceses regarding clergy mistreatment. Subsequent conduct by the dioceses did not appear in any way to alter plaintiffs' early awareness of the essential facts and circumstances underlying their causes of action or their ability to timely bring their claims.

It is not enough that plaintiffs alleged defendants were aware of the abuse and remained silent about it. The Boyle plaintiffs allege that defendants had knowledge of the ongoing problem that children were being sexually abused by priests and failed to notify or warn plaintiffs of same. They also allege that, for over 40 years, defendants did not report abuse by priests to law enforcement officials; reassigned offending priests without disclosure of their offenses; and, when victims complained, made private payments to them so that the charges would not be publicized. Conduct like...