Bonerb v. Richard J. Caron Foundation

159 F.R.D. 16, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18407, 1994 WL 715281
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedDecember 21, 1994
DocketNo. 93-CV-785H
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 159 F.R.D. 16 (Bonerb v. Richard J. Caron Foundation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bonerb v. Richard J. Caron Foundation, 159 F.R.D. 16, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18407, 1994 WL 715281 (W.D.N.Y. 1994).

Opinion

DECISION AND ORDER

HECKMAN, United States Magistrate Judge.

The parties have consented pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(e) to have the undersigned conduct all further proceedings in the case. Plaintiff has moved to amend his complaint pursuant to Rule 15 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. For the following reasons, plaintiffs motion is granted.

BACKGROUND

In this diversity action, plaintiff seeks damages for personal injuries allegedly sustained when he slipped and fell while playing basketball on defendant’s recreational basketball court on November 29, 1991. Defendant is a not-for-profit corporation licensed and doing business as a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility in Westfield, Pennsylvania. Plaintiff is a resident of Western New York.

The original complaint, filed on October 1, 1993, alleges that plaintiff was injured while he was a rehabilitation patient at defendant’s Westfield facility, and was participating in a mandatory exercise program. Plaintiff claims that the basketball court was negligently maintained by defendant.

On July 25, 1994, this court granted plaintiffs motion for substitution of new counsel. On September 1, 1994, plaintiff moved to amend his complaint to add a new cause of action for “counseling malpractice” (Item 16, Mahoney Aff., ¶ 4). According to plaintiffs counsel, investigation and discussions undertaken after his substitution as counsel indi[18]*18cated to him that a malpractice claim was warranted under the circumstances (id.). Defendant objects to the amendment on the grounds that the counseling malpractice claim does not relate back to the original pleading and is therefore barred by Pennsylvania’s two-year statute of limitations.

DISCUSSION

Rule 15 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that once time for amending a pleading as of right has expired, a party may request leave of court to amend, which “shall be freely given when justice so requires.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(a). This provision has been liberally construed, and leave to amend should be granted absent undue prejudice to the party opposing the amendment, undue delay on the part of the party seeking the amendment, or bad faith. Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178,182, 83 S.Ct. 227, 230, 9 L.Ed.2d 222 (1962); Oliner v. McBride’s Industries, Inc., 106 F.R.D. 9, 12 (S.D.N.Y.1985). However, an amendment which seeks to add a time-barred claim would be futile, and should not be allowed unless the otherwise untimely claim “relates back” to the date of the original pleading. Fed.R.Civ.P. 15(c); Oliner v. McBride’s, supra; see also Middle Atlantic Utilities Co. v. S.M.W. Dev. Corp., 392 F.2d 380, 385 (2d Cir.1968); Aequitron Medical, Inc. v. CBS, Inc., No. 93 Civ. 950, 1994 WL 414361, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. August 5, 1994).

Plaintiff contends that the professional malpractice claim would be timely under New York’s three-year limitations period for malpractice claims “other than medical, dental or podiatric malpractice____” C.P.L.R. § 214(6). Defendant contends that such a claim would be time-barred under Pennsylvania’s two-year limitations period for personal injuries based on negligence.

In determining whether a claim in a diversity case is time-barred, the federal court applies whatever statute of limitation the courts of the forum state would apply. Klaxon v. Stetnor Elec. Mfg. Co., 313 U.S. 487, 61 S.Ct. 1020, 85 L.Ed. 1477 (1941); 2 Moore’s Federal Practice § 3.08[1], at 3-41. Under Neumeier v. Kuehner, 31 N.Y.2d 121, 335 N.Y.S.2d 64, 286 N.E.2d 454 (1972), New York’s current choice-of-law rules require the court to consider the following three elements: the domicile of the plaintiff, the domicile of the defendant, and the place where the injury occurred. Datskow v. Teledyne Continental Motors, 807 F.Supp. 941, 943 (W.D.N.Y.1992). ‘When more than one of these is located in the same state, that state’s law should ordinarily control.” Id.; see also Guaranty Trust Co. v. York, 326 U.S. 99, 65 S.Ct. 1464, 89 L.Ed. 2079 (1945) (“controlling law” includes state’s statute of limitations).

In this case, defendant is domiciled in Pennsylvania, and the injury occurred in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania’s two-year statute of limitations for negligence actions therefore applies to plaintiffs professional malpractice claim. 42 Pa.Cons.Stat. §§ 5524(2) (“An action to recover damages for injuries to the person ... caused by the wrongful act or neglect ... or negligence of another”), 5524(7) (“Any other action ... to recover damages for injury ... which is founded on negligent, intentional, or otherwise tortious conduct ...”); Baehr v. Touche Ross & Co., 62 B.R. 793, 797 (Bankr.E.D.Pa. 1986) (two-year statute of limitations for professional malpractice claim). Thus, since plaintiffs claim for professional malpractice accrued at the time of the injury on November 29, 1991, it is time-barred unless it relates back to the October 1, 1993 filing date of the original complaint. See, e.g., Zee-Bar, Inc. v. Kaplan, No. 88-60-B, 1993 WL 381559, at *3 (D.N.H.1993).

Rule 15(c)(2) provides that where a party seeks to amend its pleading to assert a claim that would otherwise be time-barred, the claim may be saved by “relation back” to the date of the original pleading when “the claim or defense asserted in the amended pleading arose out of the conduct, transaction, or occurrence set forth or attempted to be set forth in the original pleading____” In determining whether a claim relates back, courts look to the “operational facts” set forth in the original complaint to determine whether the defendant was put on notice of the claim that the plaintiff later seeks to add. Hooper v. Sachs, 618 F.Supp. 963, 977 (D.Md.1985), aff'd, 823 F.2d 547 (4th Cir.), [19]*19cert. denied, 484 U.S. 954, 108 S.Ct. 347, 98 L.Ed.2d 373 (1987). As stated in Tri-Ex Enterprises, Inc. v. Morgan Guaranty Trust Co., 586 F.Supp. 930, 932 (S.D.N.Y.1984):

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Bluebook (online)
159 F.R.D. 16, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18407, 1994 WL 715281, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bonerb-v-richard-j-caron-foundation-nywd-1994.