Rustico v. Intuitive Surgical, Inc., No. 20-15009 (9th Cir. 2021)
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The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Intuitive Surgical, the designer and manufacturer of the da Vinci surgical robot, in a product liability action brought by plaintiff and her husband, holding that the action was time-barred under California's two-year statute of limitations under California Code of Civil Procedure 335.1.
The panel concluded that the two-year California—not three-year Connecticut—statute of limitations applies to plaintiff's claim. The panel explained that, although the district court erred by failing to consider whether Connecticut had a legitimate interest in seeing its law applied, the district court correctly held that California's statute of limitations governs the claims. The panel also concluded that the Tolling Agreement does not render plaintiff's claims timely. In this case, because the Tolling Agreement expressly preserved Intuitive's statute-of-limitations defense for "the applicable" jurisdiction, Intuitive is entitled to employ its statute-of-limitations defense under California law. Finally, the panel concluded that equitable estoppel did not apply to plaintiff's claims where she failed to submit evidence identifying a misrepresentation, material omission, or false promise made on behalf of Intuitive.
Court Description: Choice-of-Law / Statute of Limitations. The panel affirmed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of Intuitive Surgical, Inc., and held that a diversity product liability action was barred by the two-year statute of limitations in Cal. Code of Civ. Pro. § 335.1. Plaintiffs Jean and John Rustico were both citizens and residents of Connecticut at the time of the alleged injury, and Intuitive was a Delaware corporation with its headquarters in California. Jean Rustico experienced complications with Intuitive’s da Vinci surgical robot during her surgery in Connecticut in January 2012. In January 2013, a year before the expiration of California’s statute of limitations, Intuitive proposed a general tolling agreement to all putative claimants who sought to file personal injury claims arising out of the da Vinci surgical robot. On February 3, 2014, counsel for the Rusticos emailed Intuitive and submitted a list of names that included the Rusticos to be included in the Tolling Agreement. The panel held that the California – not Connecticut – statute of limitations applied. The panel applied the three- step California “government interest” analysis for resolving the choice-of-law question. Under step one, the parties agreed that the laws of California and Connecticut differed, with California having a two-year statute of limitations for product liability claims, and Connecticut having a three-year RUSTICO V. INTUITIVE SURGICAL 3 statute of limitations. Absent tolling, the Rusticos’ claims would be untimely under California law but timely under Connecticut law. Under step two, the panel determined what interest, if any, the respective states had in seeing their respective laws applied to the case. The panel held that California had legitimate interests in the application of its statute of limitations here because it would protect Intuitive, which is headquartered in California, and protect the district court, which is located in California, from the burden of litigating the Rusticos’ expired product liability claims. The panel held further that the district court erred in failing to consider whether Connecticut had any interest in seeing its own statute of limitations applied. The panel held, however, that despite this error, reversal was not warranted. The Rusticos failed to prove that they were members of the class of persons whom Connecticut’s statute of limitations was designed to protect. Because California – but not Connecticut – had a legitimate interest, there was a “false conflict” that led the panel to apply California law. The panel noted that even if it inferred that Connecticut had some interest in the application of its law, and the panel proceeded to step three, it was clear that California had a much stronger interest that would be more impaired if its law were not applied. The panel held that the Tolling Agreement did not render the Rusticos’ claims timely. Although counsel executed the agreement on August 9, 2013, the Tolling Agreement did not commence until counsel submitted Mr. Rustico’s name on February 3, 2014, which was a few weeks after the two-year anniversary of Ms. Rustico’s surgery, and California’s two- year statute of limitations had expired. Because the Tolling Agreement expressly preserved Intuitive’s statute-of- limitations defense for the applicable jurisdiction, Intuitive 4 RUSTICO V. INTUITIVE SURGICAL was entitled to employ its statute-of-limitations defense under California law. The panel held that equitable estoppel did not apply to the Rusticos’ claims. The Rusticos failed to submit any evidence that identified a misrepresentation, material omission, or false promise made on behalf of Intuitive.
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