Dasha Ex Rel. Dasha v. Maine Medical Center

Historically, the courts have used equitable principles to ameliorate the harshness of the law. We cannot ameliorate such harshness in direct contravention of a statute, such as 14 M.R.S.A. § 853 (setting forth the limited circumstances that justify tolling a statute of limitations). See Inhabitants of the Town of Beals v. Beal, 149 Me. 19, 98 A.2d 552, 555 (1953). We can, however, apply equitable principles to prevent a defendant from using fraudulent conduct, or the equivalent thereof, to invoke a statutory defense in a manner so unjust that the Legislature could not have intended the…