W v. Pangborne & Co. v. New Jersey Department of Transportation

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

HANDLER, J.

The question in this case is whether the statute of limitations under the Contractual Liability Act can be invoked to bar an action against the State Department of Transportation by a contractor that, at the invitation of the State, had pursued an administrative disposition of its claim. The trial court ruled that the State should be equitably estopped from asserting its statutory-limitations defense because it participated in the attempted administrative disposition of the contractor’s claim. On appeal, the Appellate Division reversed. It…