Nghiem v. Rupom Sajib & Global Aviation Serv., Inc.

559 S.W.3d 188
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 29, 2017
DocketNO. 01–16–00585–CV
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 559 S.W.3d 188 (Nghiem v. Rupom Sajib & Global Aviation Serv., Inc.) 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
Nghiem v. Rupom Sajib & Global Aviation Serv., Inc., 559 S.W.3d 188 (Tex. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

Harvey Brown, Justice

In this appeal from an order striking a petition in intervention, the issue is whether the two-year statute of limitations of the Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act applies to the intervenor's claim for breach of the implied warranty of good and workmanlike repairs to existing tangible goods and property.1

Intervenor Daniel Nghiem was injured in a plane crash. Over two years later, Nghiem petitioned to intervene in a suit against a company that made repairs to the plane before the crash, Global Aviation Service, Inc. The trial court struck Nghiem's petition as untimely. In a single issue, Nghiem argues that the trial court erred in striking his petition because his implied warranty claim was governed by *190the residual four-year statute of limitations of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code.2 We affirm.

Background

In June 2013, Daniel Nghiem and Rupom Sajib were injured in a plane crash. Sajib asserted a negligence claim against Global, a company that had performed maintenance and repairs on the plane before the crash.

More than two years later, Nghiem petitioned to intervene as a plaintiff in Sajib's suit against Global, asserting a claim for breach of the implied warranty of good and workmanlike repairs to existing tangible goods and property.

Global moved to strike Nghiem's petition, arguing that Nghiem could not intervene because his implied-warranty claim was barred by the DTPA's two-year statute of limitations. Nghiem responded that he was asserting his claim under the common law and that his claim was therefore governed by the four-year statute of limitations of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Global replied that the implied warranty of good and workmanlike repairs is not actionable under the common law but only under the DTPA and is therefore necessarily governed by the DTPA's two-year statute of limitations.

The trial court agreed with Global, struck Nghiem's petition, and severed his claims. Nghiem appeals.

Statute of Limitations

In a single issue, Nghiem contends that the trial court erred in striking his petition in intervention. Nghiem argues that his claim was not barred by limitations because it was brought under the common law, not the DTPA, and was therefore governed by the residual four-year statute of limitations of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, not the two-year statute of limitations of the DTPA.

A. Applicable law and standard of review

The purpose of an intervention is to join a lawsuit that is already in progress. Under Rule 60 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, a "party may intervene by filing a pleading, subject to being stricken out by the court for sufficient cause on the motion of any party." TEX. R. CIV. P. 60.

Rule 60"authorizes a party with a justiciable interest in a pending suit to intervene in the suit as a matter of right." In re Union Carbide Corp. , 273 S.W.3d 152, 154 (Tex. 2008) (per curiam). A party has a justiciable interest in the suit when his interests will be affected by the litigation. Id. at 155. That is, a party has a justiciable interest if he either (1) could have brought all or part of the same suit in his own name or (2) would have been able to defeat all or part of the recovery if the suit had been filed against him. Guar. Fed. Sav. Bank v. Horseshoe Operating Co. , 793 S.W.2d 652, 657 (Tex. 1990).

If a party to the pending suit opposes the intervention, the party may file a motion to strike the petition in intervention. See TEX. R. CIV. P. 60 ; In re Union Carbide , 273 S.W.3d at 155. "If any party to the pending suit moves to strike the intervention, the intervenors have the burden to show a justiciable interest in the pending suit." Id.

We review a trial court's order striking an intervention for an abuse of *191discretion. Guar. Fed. Sav. Bank , 793 S.W.2d at 657.

B. Nghiem's claim is governed by the DTPA's two-year statute of limitations

It is undisputed that Nghiem asserted his implied-warranty claim more than two years after the claim accrued. If the DTPA's statute of limitations applies to Nghiem's claim, then limitations ran on his claim before he filed his petition, and he has no justiciable interest in Sajib's suit against Global.

Whether the DTPA's statute of limitations applies to Nghiem's implied-warranty claim is a question of law that we review de novo. See Williams v. Khalaf , 802 S.W.2d 651, 658 (Tex. 1990) ; Kaldis v. Crest Fin. , 463 S.W.3d 588, 592 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 2015, no pet.).

In Foreman v. Pettit Unlimited, Inc. , we held that a claim for breach of implied warranty of good and workmanlike repairs to existing tangible goods is actionable only under the DTPA and is therefore governed by the DTPA's two-year statute of limitations. 886 S.W.2d 409, 412 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1994, no writ).

Our holding was based on Melody Home Manufacturing Co. v. Barnes , in which the Texas Supreme Court held that, as a matter of public policy, "an implied warranty to repair or modify existing tangible goods or property in a good and workmanlike manner is available to consumers suing under the DTPA." 741 S.W.2d 349, 354 (Tex. 1987). Although Melody Home

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Related

Nghiem v. Sajib
567 S.W.3d 718 (Texas Supreme Court, 2019)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
559 S.W.3d 188, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nghiem-v-rupom-sajib-global-aviation-serv-inc-texapp-2017.