NEBRASKA — The case of a former University of Nebraska at Lincoln student suing her alma mater and a professor over the online publication of one of her essays was given new life on March 22 when the state supreme court overruled a district court judge who had dismissed the case.
\nRania Shlien filed a negligence claim in September 1998 after discovering that former assistant professor David Hibler had posted a personal essay of hers on his Web site without her consent. Hibler uploaded the document sometime in 1995, but Shlien claims not to have seen it online until June 1997, according to court documents.
\nThe lower court had dismissed the case, ruling that the statute of limitations had begun with the initial “publication” of the article sometime in 1995, and had therefore expired before Shlien filed her claim.
\nThe appeals court, however, found that in some cases, “the statute of limitations does not begin to run until the potential plaintiff discovers, or with reasonable diligence should have discovered, the injury.”
\nThe case has been remanded to the lower court for further proceedings.
\nCase: Schlien v. Board of Regents, 236 Neb. 465 (2001)