Doe v. Cherwitz

LARSON, Justice.

Jane Doe alleges that she was sexually assaulted in 1973 by Dr. Gordon Cherwitz during a pelvic examination at the Davenport Clinic. In 1992 Doe, with her husband and children, sued Cherwitz and the clinic. The defendants moved to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, based on Iowa’s two-year statute of limitations. See Iowa Code § 614.1(2) (1991).

In resisting the motion, the plaintiffs rely on 1990 Iowa Acts chapter 1241, section 3 (codified as Iowa Code section 614.8A (1993)) and the common-law…