Wilcox v. Les Schwab Tire Centers of Oregon

“The enacted purposes of the SCRA are to provide for the national defense by postponing the time limit for servicemembers to pursue and defend claims–thereby enabling servicemembers ‘to devote their entire energy to the defendant needs of the Nation’ and ‘to provide for the temporary suspension of judicial *** proceedings *** that may adversely affect the civil rights of servicemembers during their military service.’” 50 USC 3902(1).

Plaintiff appealed from a judgment dismissing as untimely the wrongful-death action that he brought in his capacity as personal representative of his wife’s estate. Plaintiff argued that the trial court erred because, under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), the statute of limitation for the wrongful-death action tolled during the time Plaintiff was on active duty with the Air Force. Plaintiff asserted that excluding the time he had been on active duty, he had filed his action within the three-year limitation period. In response, Defendant argued that the SCRA does not toll a statute of limitation for an action that is brought by a service member acting in his capacity as a personal representative. “The enacted purposes of the SCRA are to provide for the national defense by postponing the time limit for servicemembers to pursue and defend claims – thereby enabling servicemembers ‘to devote their entire energy to the needs of the Nation’ and ‘to provide for the temporary suspension of judicial *** proceedings *** that may adversely affect the civil rights of servicemembers during their military service.’” 50 USC 3902(1). The Court found that the Act tolls the statute of limitation for Plaintiff to bring an action in his capacity as the personal representative of his wife’s estate. The Court held that the language in 50 USC 3936(a) does not distinguish between actions brought by a servicemember in a personal capacity and those brought in a representative capacity; thus, the SCRA does apply to an action brought by a servicemember in a representative capacity. Reversed and remanded.