Burnett v. Grattan

The question is what is the appropriate statute of limitations applicable to this Maryland employment discrimination case under 42 U. S. C. §§ 1981, 1983, and 1985(3). The Court of Appeals in McNutt v. Duke Precision Dental Orthodontic Laboratories, Inc., 698 F. 2d 676 (CA4 1983), and again in this case, held that in all claims for which no other limitations period is specifically provided, Maryland’s general 3-year period of limitations is the most appropriate for federal courts to apply in actions under the Reconstruction Civil Rights Acts. The Court of Appeals rejected petitioners’…