In Campbell v. Dep't of Human Services, the Michigan Court of Appeals resolved a lingering issue regarding whether plaintiffs can rely on evidence outside the applicable 3-year statute of limitations to support discrimination claims. The Court held that parties may use untimely evidence as "background evidence to establish a pattern of discrimination in order to prove a timely claim." As such, plaintiffs need to establish a claim associated with an injury occurring within the limitations period before resorting to background evidence.
This case will have practical implications for the defense bar. Specifically, plaintiffs can now rely on evidence well outside of the applicable limitations period, so long as they can demonstrate they suffered an injury inside that period. In a practical sense, Campbell could function as an end-around the statute of limitations as allowing consideration as background but not for recovery seems like a distinction without a meaningful difference.
Click here for a copy of the opinion.
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