Groch v. Gen Motors Corp, 2008 WL 482845 (Ohio), 2008 -Ohio-546
For years manufacturers in Ohio had no closure on potential exposure to products liability claims no matter the age of the product. That uncertainty has changed with the case of Groch v. Gen. Motors Corp., 2008 WL 482845 (Ohio), 2008- Ohio-546, where the Ohio Supreme Court upheld the products liability statute of repose. The Court affirmed a bright-line rule limiting the time in which a products liability cause of action may be brought to ten years from the date of first purchase.
Senate Bill 80 (tort reform) became effective on April 7, 2005. This bill included tort reform amendments to the products liability act including a ten year statute of repose for products liability actions under Ohio Revised Code §2305.10. The bill provides that no cause of action for product liability claim can accrue against a manufacturer or supplier of a product later than ten years from the date that the product was delivered to the purchaser. The Supreme Court in Groch upheld the statute of repose against constitutional challenges.
In March 2005, Douglas Groch was injured while working at a General Motors plant in Toledo while operating a trim press. Among other claims, Groch filed suit seeking damages from the manufacturers of the trim press based on alleged product defects. The manufacturers asserted that they were immune from liability to Groch for any alleged defect in their product under the terms of S.B. 80, the “tort reform” bill that took effect on April 7, 2005. The bill contained a “statute of repose” provision providing that no user of a product has a cause of action against a manufacturer for any product-related injury that occurs more than 10 years after the manufacturer first delivered the product to an end user.
The Court held the statute of repose constitutional on its face. The Court reasoned that all legislation enjoys a presumption of constitutionality. In addition, the Court noted the distinction between a statute of repose and a statute of limitations. “Unlike a true statute of limitations, which limits the time in which a plaintiff may bring a suit after the cause of action accrues, the statute of repose...potentially bars a plaintiff’s suit before the cause of action accrues.” In reaching its conclusion of constitutionality, the Court reasoned that a statute of repose does not deny a remedy for a vested cause of action, but rather, bars the action before it ever arises. Therefore, no right of action ever accrues to a point of in which their constitutional rights to damage or jury determinations arise.
Interestingly, the Court found the statute of repose did violate the retroactivity clause of the Ohio Constitution “as applied” to Groch. Groch’s injury occurred on March 3, 2005. Thus, he had only 34 days to commence suit before the effective date of the statute of repose (April 7, 2005), or his cause of action was barred. He did not commence suit until June 2, 2006. Thus, the Court held that the statute of repose operated unreasonably “as applied” to Groch because it provided him only 34 days to commence suit, the consequence being that he lost his cause of action if he did not file within that timeframe.
The Court held to the extent that the statute of repose affects an accrued substantive right by providing an unreasonably short period of time in which to file suit for certain plaintiffs whose injuries occurred before the Senate Bill 80 Amendment became effective, the statute of repose is unconstitutionally retroactive. Under the reasoning of Groch then, the statute of repose is not a defense to any products liability claim that accrued between April 7, 2003 and April 7, 2005 as the statute of limitations for such a claim is two years and, any lesser period unreasonably divests a claimant of a substantive right.
The “as applied” portion of the ruling is narrow and will affect only a small number of cases. Groch ultimately provides finality to manufacturers of products, setting ten years as the outer limits of potential exposure in products liability claims where once there was indefinite risk.
