Cherpak v. Newell Manufacturing Corp.

728 F. Supp. 97, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 192, 1990 WL 1051
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 5, 1990
DocketNo. CV 88-4034
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 728 F. Supp. 97 (Cherpak v. Newell Manufacturing Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cherpak v. Newell Manufacturing Corp., 728 F. Supp. 97, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 192, 1990 WL 1051 (E.D.N.Y. 1990).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WEXLER, District Judge.

Plaintiffs John and Jenney Cherpak commenced this personal injury lawsuit seeking recovery for injuries allegedly sustained when John Cherpak suffered an on the job injury. Named as defendants are Newell Manufacturing Corp. (“Newell”), Texas Shredder Parts (“TSP”), and Van Gorp Corporation (“Van Gorp”). Newell, the manufacturer of the machine that allegedly injured plaintiff, has commenced a third party action against Gershow Recycling, John Cherpak’s employer.

This Court had previously granted defendants Van Gorp’s and TSP’s motions to dismiss the complaint as to them on the ground that the statute of limitations had run and plaintiffs had not properly effected service. Cherpak v. Newell, 720 F.Supp.19 (E.D.N.Y.1989). In light of the Second Circuit’s recent decision in Personis v. Oiler, 889 F.2d 424 (2d Cir.1989), this Court granted plaintiff’s motion to reargue.

In Personis, the Second Circuit held that section 203(b)(5) of New York’s Civil Practice Law and Rules (“section 203(b)(5)”), [98]*98which provides plaintiffs with a sixty day extension of the applicable statute of limitations upon the delivery of a summons to a designated official and thereafter having the summons served within the sixty day period, applies in federal diversity suits. Personis, 889 F.2d at 426-27. While acknowledging the applicability of section 203(b)(5) in federal diversity suits, for the reasons stated below, this Court finds that plaintiffs’ noncompliance with that statute compels the same result as before. Accordingly, defendants’ motions to dismiss are granted.

I. Background

A brief reiteration of the facts in this case is in order. As noted above, plaintiffs seek to recover damages for injuries which were allegedly caused by an on the job accident. The accident occurred on February 6, 1986 in Suffolk County, New York. On February 3, 1989, three days prior to the expiration of the applicable three year statute of limitations, plaintiffs filed their complaint against defendant TSP with the Clerk of the Court, under civil docket number 89-0416. On February 6, 1989, a complaint against defendant Van Gorp was filed, under civil docket number 89-0428. After filing these pleadings, plaintiffs attempted to effectuate service on defendants pursuant to New York’s Business Corporation Law (“BCL”). N.Y.Bus. Corp.L. § 306 (McKinney 1986). As pointed out in this Court’s earlier decision, service was not completed until after the expiration of the three year statute of limitations, but prior to sixty days after that expiration.. It is to be noted that none of the docket sheets in these consolidated actions indicate that a summons was filed with the Clerk of the Court as to either Van Gorp or TSP.1

II. Discussion

Under New York law a claim is “interposed” and the statute of limitations is tolled when the defendant is served. N.Y. Civ.Prac.L. & R. § 203(b) (McKinney 1972). New York law also provides, under certain circumstances, for a tolling of the statute of limitations if the plaintiff delivers the summons to an appropriate public official and thereafter serves the defendant within sixty days after the statute of limitations would otherwise have expired. More specifically, section 203(b)(5) states that if a summons is delivered to the sheriff of a county outside of the City of New York or the Clerk of the County within the City of New York, plaintiff’s claim will be interposed as of the date of delivery so long as plaintiff properly serves the defendant within sixty days of the running of the applicable statute of limitations. Thus, in this case, section 203(b)(5) would call for delivery of the summons to the sheriff of the county where the cause of action arose. See N.Y.Civ.Prac.L. & R. § 203(b)(5) (McKinney 1972 & Supp.1990).

In the wake of the Personis decision, it is clear that so much of this Court’s earlier opinion which rejected application of section 203(b)(5) in federal diversity suits is overruled. See Personis, supra. The Second Circuit stated that “as a matter of law, section 203(b)(5) may be applied in federal diversity suits.” Personis, 889 F.2d at 426. However, in Personis the Court also stated that its holding was directed only to situations in which the plaintiff had complied literally with section 203(b)(5). Personis, 889 F.2d at 427. The plaintiff in Personis had, in fact, delivered a copy of the summons to the sheriff of Herkimer County in order “to obtain the statutory extension provided by section 203(b)(5).” Personis, 889 F.2d at 425. In the instant case, no such compliance with the statute was even attempted.

Plaintiffs argue, based on case law from a group of district courts which have so held, that substituting a federal official for the receipt of the summons is acceptable to trigger the section 203(b)(5) extension, and [99]*99that the filing of the summonses with the Clerk of the Court herein accomplishes that aim. See, e.g., Gold v. Jeep Corp., 579 F.Supp. 256, 258 (E.D.N.Y.1984) (“service of the summons upon the Clerk of this Court is equivalent”); Aro v. Lichtig, 537 F.Supp. 599, 600 (E.D.N.Y.1982) (filing of the summons and complaint with the Clerk of the Court and subsequent delivery to a U.S. Marshal held equivalent to statutory requirement); Somas v. Great American Insurance Co., 501 F.Supp. 96, 96-97 (S.D.N.Y.1980) (filing of the complaint in federal court held to be equivalent); Zarcone v. Condie, 62 F.R.D. 563, 567-68 (S.D.N.Y.1974) (delivery of the summons and complaint to U.S. Marshal triggered the 60-day extension of section 203(b)(5)). Inasmuch as the Second Circuit did not rule on this issue in Personis, this Court finds that under the facts of this case section 203(b)(5) may not be relied upon by plaintiffs.

As an initial matter, it appears that several district courts have allowed for various alternative methods by which parties have gained the section 203(b)(5) extension. In addition to those examples cited above, the court in Levy v. Pyramid Co. of Ithaca implied that the filing of the complaint with the district court would suffice. 687 F.Supp. 48, 53 (N.D.N.Y.1988), aff’d on other grounds, 871 F.2d 9 (1989). However, this Court is bound only by the recent Second Circuit decision in Personis, which clearly stated that “literal compliance with section 203(b)(5), ... suffices to lengthen the limitation period.” Personis, 889 F.2d at 427. In light of the aforementioned district court eases, it is worthy of repeating that section 203(b)(5) requires, in a county outside the City of New York, delivery of the summons to the sheriff of that county in which “the defendant resides, is employed or is doing business ... or in which the cause of action arose.” N.Y.Civ. Prac.L. & R. § 203(b)(5) (McKinney 1972 & Supp.1990).

As a general rule, this Court finds that absent literal compliance with the statute, plaintiffs are not entitled to the section 203(b)(5) extension. In answering this question, which the Second Circuit was not required to reach in Personis,

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Bluebook (online)
728 F. Supp. 97, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 192, 1990 WL 1051, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cherpak-v-newell-manufacturing-corp-nyed-1990.