Trentadue v. Buckler Automatic Lawn Sprinkler Company

In this wrongful death action, the majority frames the issue as whether the common-law discovery rule tolls the statutory period of limitations or whether MCL 600.5827 alone governs when plaintiffs claims accrued. It concludes that MCL 600.5827 alone controls.

I strongly disagree with this decision for three reasons. First, MCL 600.5827 does not apply to this case. Second, even if it does apply, the majority commits a tragic mistake by abandoning Michigan’s decades-old common-law discovery rule. Third, even accepting the majority’s decision to abolish the discovery rule from now on, this…