CALIFORNIA
JDSupra
6/2/2016
by Christopher Kendrick, Valerie Moore | Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
In Doe v. Roman Catholic Archbishop etc. (No. B264947, filed 5/26/16), a California appeals court held that gifts lavished on victims by a molesting priest did not constitute advance or partial payment of damages sufficient to toll the statute of limitations on a civil lawsuit for damages under Insurance Code section 11583.
The plaintiffs in Doe v. Roman Catholic Archbishop were adult victims of childhood sexual abuse by a Catholic priest dating back to the 1970s and 1980s. The priest had died in 1985, but in 2014 the victims sued the Archdiocese of Los Angeles alleging claims for childhood sexual abuse and negligence. The trial court sustained the Church’s demurrer without leave to amend on the ground that the lawsuit was barred by the applicable statute of limitations, since it was filed more than 30 years after the last act of abuse had occurred.
Plaintiffs argued that the statute of limitations was tolled by actions of the priest under Insurance Code section 11583. Section 11583 provides that any “advance payment or partial payment of damages made by any person” (1) may not “be construed as an admission of liability” and (2) shall be credited against any final settlement or judgment. However, if the person making that “advance payment or partial payment of damages” does not give the recipient written notice of the applicable statute of limitations, the statute will be tolled until written notice is given or until the person retains an attorney, whichever happens first.
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