Robert L. Kroenlein Trust v. Kirchhefer

Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Defendants alleging claims for conversion and fraud stemming from one Defendant's alleged theft of beer from Plaintiffs’ store and his subsequent sale of the stolen beer to the other named Defendants. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Defendants, finding Plaintiffs’ claims barred by the governing statutes of limitation. Specifically, the court applied the discovery rule and concluded that the statutes of limitation for fraud and conversion barred Plaintiffs’ action. Further, the court concluded that the doctrine of collateral estoppel barred Plaintiffs from litigating the question of when the statutes of limitation began to run because a federal court had dismissed Plaintiffs’ federal claims as time-barred. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the district court did not err by applying the discovery rule to the fraud and conversion statutes of limitation; but (2) the doctrine of collateral estoppel did not apply in this case, and disputed issues of fact precluded summary judgment. View "Robert L. Kroenlein Trust v. Kirchhefer" on Justia Law