Bell v. Showa Denko K.K.

899 S.W.2d 749, 1995 WL 297296
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 23, 1995
Docket07-94-0138-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by117 cases

This text of 899 S.W.2d 749 (Bell v. Showa Denko K.K.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bell v. Showa Denko K.K., 899 S.W.2d 749, 1995 WL 297296 (Tex. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

BOYD, Justice.

Appellant Savannah Bell brings this appeal from a take-nothing summary judgment in favor of appellees Showa Denko K.K. d/b/a Showa Denko, Showa Denko America, Inc. d/b/a Showa Denko, Whole Foods, Inc., Fitness Foods, Inc., Roy’s Nutrition Center, Inc. and Makers of KAL, Inc. In three points of error, she urges the trial court erred in 1) granting appellees’ motions for summary judgment based on the statute of limitations as a genuine issue of material fact existed as to when appellant knew, or should have known, of her injury and its cause; 2) granting appellees’ motions for summary judgment based on the statute of limitations as a class action of which appellant was a putative member had been filed, thereby tolling the running of the limitations; and 3) denying appellant’s “Motion to Quash and Object to Oral Hearing of Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment or in the Alternative to Continue Defendants’ Oral Hearing on Motion for Summary Judgment with Proper Notice to Plaintiff’ due to the lack of proper notice for the summary judgment hearing. For reasons later expressed, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

This appeal arises from a suit filed on September 16, 1992, in which appellant sought recovery for injuries she attributes to her ingestion of the dietary supplement L-Tryptophan (L-T). As a result of her intake of L-T, appellant alleges she contracted a condition known as Eosinophilia Myalgia Syndrome, or EMS. EMS is marked by high eosinophil counts and typically gives rise to numerous physical problems including rashes, swelling, aehiness in joints and, most predominantly, severe muscle pain. EMS has been linked to an impurity in certain batches of L-T manufactured by Showa Den-ko, K.K., an entity which, although named as a party defendant, was never served with citation. The remainder of the appellees allegedly either formulated, bottled and/or sold the substances. In her suit, appellant alleged a right to recover under theories of negligence, strict liability, misrepresentation, breach of warranty, and violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act (DTPA). 1

On September 27, 1993, after extensive discovery, appellees Showa Denko America, Inc., Fitness Foods, Inc., Roy’s Nutrition Center, Inc., and the Makers of KAL, Inc., filed for summary judgment on the basis that appellant’s suit was not timely filed. Appel-lee Whole Foods, Inc. filed a companion motion on October 7, 1993. On October 13, 1993, appellant responded to the motions. *753 Additional facts concerning the court settings for hearing the summary judgment motions will be made in our discussion of appellant’s third point.

Our discussion of appellant’s first point requires that we recite the litany of the axiomatic standards for reviewing a summary judgment. As articulated in the seminal case of Nixon v. Mr. Property Management Co., Inc., 690 S.W.2d 546 (Tex.1985), those standards are:

1. The movant for summary judgment has the burden of showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
2. In deciding whether there is a disputed material fact issue precluding summary judgment, evidence favorable to the non-movant will be taken as true.
3. Every reasonable inference must be indulged in favor of the non-movant and any doubts resolved in its favor.

Id. at 548-49.

For a defendant to be entitled to a summary judgment, it must disprove, as a matter of law, at least one of the essential elements of each of the plaintiff’s causes of action, Lear Siegler, Inc. v. Perez, 819 S.W.2d 470, 471 (Tex.1991), or it must establish one or more of its defenses as a matter of law. Bryant v. Gulf Oil Corp., 694 S.W.2d 443, 445 (Tex.App.—Amarillo 1985, writ ref d n.r.e.). Therefore, the issue on an appeal from a summary judgment is whether the movant established its entitlement to summary judgment, as a matter of law, by conclusively proving that no genuine issue of material fact exists as to its cause of action or a defense. Delgado v. Burns, 656 S.W.2d 428, 429 (Tex.1983). Evidence favorable to the movant’s position will be considered only if it is uncontroverted. Billman v. Missouri Pacific R. Co., 825 S.W.2d 525, 526 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1992, writ denied).

In her first point, as we have noted above, appellant argues her claims are not barred by statutes of limitation. Appellant’s tort claims are governed by section 16.003 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code which provides that “a person must bring suit for ... personal injury ... not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues.” Tex.Civ.Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 16.003(a) (Vernon 1986). For the purposes of this section, negligence claims normally accrue when the duty of ordinary care is breached, Zidell v. Bird, 692 S.W.2d 550, 554 (Tex.App. — Austin 1985, no writ), and strict liability claims generally accrue on the date of the injury. There is a “discovery” exception to the general rule which we will discuss in more detail below. Indeed, the gravamen of appellant’s challenge, under this first point, is that the discovery rule is applicable and that she supplied the trial court with sufficient summary judgment evidence to show “that she did not know and could not have known of her injury until a later time” within the limitations period.

With regard to appellant’s DTPA claims, the discovery rule is statutorily included in the two-year limitation period applicable to such claims. Section 17.565 of the DTPA specifically provides:

All actions brought under this subchapter must be commenced within two years after the date on which the false, misleading, or deceptive act or practice occurred or within two years after the consumer discovered or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have discovered the occurrence of the false, misleading, or deceptive act or practice.

Tex.Bus. & Com.Code Ann. § 17.565 (Vernon 1987). That limitations period is also applicable to claims arising from an alleged breach of warranty. McAdams v. Capitol Products Corp., 810 S.W.2d 290, 292 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 1991, writ denied).

Because of the nature of this challenge, appellees’ discussion of this point primarily addresses, albeit without conceding that the discovery rule is applicable, them assertions that even if the discovery rule is applicable, appellant’s suit is still time barred. Thus, in addressing this point, we will assume the discovery rule is applicable and will direct our discussion to the sufficiency of the summary judgment evidence to establish that appellant’s suit was not timely filed.

The discovery rule provides that the limitation period for a tort claim involv- *754

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Bluebook (online)
899 S.W.2d 749, 1995 WL 297296, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bell-v-showa-denko-kk-texapp-1995.