Alberts v. Gaeckler

144 A.3d 80, 446 N.J. Super. 551, 2014 N.J. Super. LEXIS 199
CourtNew Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division
DecidedDecember 1, 2014
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 144 A.3d 80 (Alberts v. Gaeckler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alberts v. Gaeckler, 144 A.3d 80, 446 N.J. Super. 551, 2014 N.J. Super. LEXIS 199 (N.J. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

SAVIO, J.S.C.

In this opinion, the court addresses two related issues not previously addressed by any Court of the State of New Jersey in any reported opinion:

(1) Is a claimant, who is asserting a bystander liability claim, required to comply with the notice requirements of the New Jersey Tort Claims Act (TCA), N.J.S.A. 59:1-1 to -14-4 in order to assert the bystander liability claim against a public entity or, does the filing of a timely tort claim notice (TCN) in accordance with N.J.S.A. 59:8-8 by the claimant who sustains the personal injury satisfy the notice requirements of the TCA for purposes of asserting the bystander liability claim?
(2) If a separate TCN is not required to assert a bystander liability claim, does the two-year statute of limitations on personal injury actions bar a bystander liability suit if filed more than two years after accrual of the cause of action when the underlying personal injury suit is filed before the limitations period expires; or, does the filing date of the amended complaint asserting the bystander liability claim relate back to the date of filing of the original complaint?

In the opinion of this court, a plaintiff asserting a bystander liability claim in accordance with Portee v. Jaffee, 84 N.J. 88, 417 A.2d 521 (1980) must comply with the notice requirements of the TCA and the date of filing of an amended complaint alleging entitlement to damages based upon a bystander liability claim does not relate back to the date of the filing of the original complaint for purposes of the running of the statute of limitations. The application to dismiss the bystander liability claim is granted and the bystander liability claim against Atlantic County is dismissed with prejudice.

Plaintiff Linda Alberts (plaintiff), alleges that on May 12, 2012, she suffered personal injuries when she fell from a bicycle on a bike path owned by defendant, County of Atlantic (defendant).1 Plaintiff alleges that Austin Gaeckler, Gavin Chai, and Pch N. Chieah were each negligently operating bicycles and the negligence of each operator of the bicycles proximately caused the fall and her injuries. Plaintiff alleges that the bike path was in a dangerous condition, that defendant had either actual or construe-[557]*557tive notice of the dangerous condition a sufficient time prior to the fall to eliminate the dangerous condition by taking reasonable measures, and that defendant’s acts or failure to act to eliminate or reduce the danger was palpably unreasonable. N.J.S.A. 59:4-2. Plaintiff seeks monetary compensation for the injuries she alleges she suffered proximately caused by the alleged wrongful conduct of all defendants. A loss of consortium claim is asserted on behalf of plaintiffs husband, Randy Alberts,2 but the original complaint contains no allegation that could be interpreted as averring a claim for damages based upon an indirect claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress or a bystander liability claim.

In accordance with N.J.S.A. 59:8-8, plaintiff filed a timely TCN with defendant. Randy did not file a TCN, nor did the TCN filed on behalf of plaintiff suggest that Randy intended to assert a bystander liability claim.

N.J.S.A. 59:8-4 describes the required content of the TCN. The notice must include:

a. the name and post office address of the claimant;
b. the post office address to which the person filing the TCN desires notices to be sent;
c. the date, place and other circumstances of the occurrence or transaction which gave rise to the claim asserted;
d. a general description of the injury, damage or loss incurred so far as it may be known at the time of the presentation of the claim;
e. the name or names of the public entity, employee or employees causing the injury, damage or loss if known, and
f. the amount claimed as of the date of presentation of the claim including the estimated amount of any perspective injury, damage or loss insofar as it may be known at the time of presentation of the claim together with the basis of the computation of the amount claimed.
[N.J.S.A. 69:8-4].3

[558]*558The TCN filed on behalf of plaintiff advised defendant she suffered serious physical injury and advised defendant of the marital relationship with Randy. In the TCN, Randy is identified as “Randy Alberts, Husband.” Plaintiff contends that she implicitly advised defendant that Randy made observations of her injury at the scene of the accident because her spouse is identified as one of the “individuals who were witnesses to or who have knowledge of the facts of the incident which gave rise to the claim.” Plaintiff suggests that based on the information provided in the TCN, defendant could have conducted a reasonable investigation to determine whether a Portee claim by plaintiffs spouse existed and was being asserted by Randy.

The court acknowledges that the TCN could be interpreted as suggesting that there may be a claim for damages by Randy for the loss of consortium of his wife. However, the TCN does not contain any information that could possibly be construed as a description of the injuries sustained by Randy as a result of being an eyewitness to the injuries of his wife. N.J.S.A. 59:8-4(d). The TCA simply references that plaintiffs husband was a potential witness to the incident.

Shortly after the complaint was filed, but more than two years after the accident, plaintiff filed a notice of motion to amend the complaint to add a Count VI alleging that Randy was entitled to compensation for the emotional damage he suffered as a result of being an eyewitness to the incident that resulted in injury to his wife. The court granted plaintiffs’ motion to file an amended complaint to assert the bystander liability claim. In the Memorandum of Decision allowing the filing of the amended complaint, the court noted: “[hjowever, the court makes not [sic] determination at this juncture on any application that may be filed by the defense.” Thereafter, on July 14, 2014, a first amended complaint was filed adding a bystander liability claim on behalf of Randy. On October, 29, 2014, in accordance with Rule 4:6-2(e), defendant filed a notice of motion to dismiss the bystander liability claim in the amended complaint for failure to state a claim.

[559]*559Defendant asserts that the bystander claim must be dismissed because Randy failed to file a TCN alleging entitlement to damages based upon a bystander liability claim. Defendant avers that there is no information contained in the TCN filed on behalf of plaintiff that suggested that Randy intended to assert a bystander liability claim against defendant. The deadline to file a notice of tort claim against defendant for the incident in question expired ninety days after accrual of the cause of action. N.J.S.A. 59:8-8. Randy’s cause of action based upon bystander liability accrued when he observed the incident on the bike path when plaintiff was injured. Grunwald v. Bronkesh, 131 N.J. 483, 493, 621 A.2d 459 (1993); Strauss v.

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Bluebook (online)
144 A.3d 80, 446 N.J. Super. 551, 2014 N.J. Super. LEXIS 199, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alberts-v-gaeckler-njsuperctappdiv-2014.