Eleanor DOUGLASS, Appellee, v. GLENN E. HINTON INVESTMENTS, INC., a Corporation, Appellant

Eleanor Douglass brought this action against Virgil Russell and Glenn E. Hinton Investments, Inc. (Hinton) to recover the damages she sustained in purchasing securities from Russell, a broker employed by Hinton. Four of plaintiff’s six claims, as set out in her complaint, are based upon federal statutes and agency rules promulgated thereunder. The fifth and sixth claims are based upon theories of fraud and negligent misrepresentation under the law of the State of Washington where the transactions occurred.

Hinton moved for summary judgment in its favor on the ground that plaintiff’s claims are barred by the applicable statutes of limitations. The district court denied the motion. The court held that the federal claims were governed by the limitations period of Wash.Rev.Code 4.16.080(4) and that, under that statute, these four claims are not barred. Hinton then took this interlocutory appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292 (b).

The federal claims arise from alleged violations of federal laws, which violations occurred between June 1964 and June 1965. Mrs. Douglass asserted that she had no reason to know of the violations until December 1965, when she discovered that the corporation…