examining statute requiring wrongful-death action “shall be brought within one year of death, and not thereafter” and finding the requirement that a wrongful death action be brought within one year after a “definitely established event, — ‘death’—leaves no room for construction”
How later courts described this case
- examining statute requiring wrongful-death action “shall be brought within one year of death, and not thereafter” and finding the requirement that a wrongful death action be brought within one year after a “definitely established event, — ‘death’—leaves no room for construction”
- discovery rule does not apply to wrongful death statute which provided that a cause of action "shall be brought within one year after the death, and not thereafter" (italics ours) since the Legislature intended death, and not discovery, to be the time at which the cause of action accrues
- plurality opinion, authored by Mr. Justice Wilkinson and joined in by Messrs. Justice Roberts and Flaherty, with Messrs. Justice Larsen and Kauffman concurring in the result
- "Appellants, of course, argue that the discovery rule is inapplicable and that the statutory periods began to run, at the latest, on the dates of the decedents' deaths. We agree."
Written by the judges who cited it.
Distinguished
Distinguished by McGOWAN v. UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON, 759 F.2d 287 (1985)
Cf. Anthony, 496 Pa. at 122, 436 A.2d at 183 ("Appellants, of course, argue that the discovery rule is inapplicable and that the statutory periods began to run, at the latest, on the dates of the decedents' deaths.
Distinguished by McGowan v. University of Scranton, 759 F.2d 287 (1985)
Cf. Anthony, 496 Pa. at 122, 436 A.2d at 183 (“Appellants, of course, argue that the discovery rule is inapplicable and that the statutory periods began to run, at the latest, on the dates of the decedents’ deaths.
Distinguished by Gravinese v. Johns-Manville Corp., 324 Pa. Super. 432 (1984)
496 Pa. 119, 436 A.2d 181 (1981), the Supreme Court held that the “discovery rule” was inapplicable to wrongful death and survival actions.
The opinion
O’BRIEN, C. J.,
filed a dissenting opinion.