Cases–Limitations–UCC 2-725 trumps sovereign immunity

The statute of limitations in U.C.C. § 2-725 trumps state common law and statutory sovereign immunity, according to the Texas Court of Appeals.

In the case, a local hospital district, conceded to be a government entity, used GE equipment in a new electrical system it had installed.  It claimed that the equipment was defective, but it waited five years after the goods were delivered to bring the action.  GE moved to dismiss for failure to comply with the statute of limitations.

A government instrumentality is a “person,” said the court, and a “person” who engages in a transaction is a “party” under  § 1-201(b).  Under § 2-725, a “party” must bring the action within four years.  That means the hospital is covered.  Texas has a general statute that provides that state entities are not bound by various statutes of limitations, but the one in § 2-725 isn’t specifically listed.  The action was therefore barred.

Tarrant County Hospital District v. GE Automation Services, 2005 Tex. App. LEXIS 699 (Jan. 27, 2005)