Kennedy v. Cumberland Engineering Co.

Kennedy (plaintiff) lost three fingers in 1978 using a machine he'd purchased in 1969, and sued the manufacturer, Cumberland (defendant), within the state's ordinary three-year personal-injury statute of limitations. Cumberland moved for summary judgment, invoking a separate statute of repose setting an absolute ten-year bar (from date of purchase) on products liability suits, meaning Kennedy's 1981 lawsuit was filed after the 1979 repose deadline even though he wasn't injured until 1978. The trial court granted the motion, and Kennedy appealed, arguing the statute of repose violated the Rhode Island constitutional guarantee that all persons have recourse to the law for redress of their injuries.