Klehr v. A. O. Smith Corp.

Summary

The Court affirmed the judgment that the Klehrs' civil RICO action was untimely. It rejected the last-predicate-act accrual rule insofar as that rule allowed a timely predicate act to revive recovery for injuries caused by earlier acts outside the limitations period. The Court also held that a civil RICO plaintiff must exercise reasonable diligence to invoke fraudulent concealment. It declined to select among the remaining accrual rules or reconsider the lower courts' fact-based conclusions concerning discovery and diligence. Justice Scalia, joined by Justice Thomas, concurred in part and in the judgment, joining Part III's diligence holding but arguing that the Court should also adopt the Clayton Act's injury-based accrual rule for civil RICO.