Luti v. Graco, Inc.

Opinion

CROSBY, J.

We find an inference of prejudice sufficient to support the superior court’s dismissal of this products liability action, which went unserved for almost three years, under the two-year discretionary statute (former Code Civ. Proc., § 583, subd. (a)).

I

On April 24, 1979, John Luti suffered a severe hand injury from an airless paint spray gun. Within six weeks he retained a lawyer who filed a workers’ compensation claim.

In the fall of 1979, his attorney obtained a copy of a report prepared by the employer’s carrier which blamed a failed “whip line” for injecting paint into…