La Russo v. St. George's Univ. Sch. of Med.

• Citation: 747 F.3d 90
• Decision Date: 04 March 2014
• Docket Number: Docket No. 13–1665–cv.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit)
• Parties: Maria LA RUSSO, as attorney in fact for A. Matthew De Lucia, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. ST. GEORGE'S UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, John Does, 1–5, (as employees, agents, and/or servants of St. George's and/or as independent contractors), Jane Does, 1–5, (as employees, agents, and/or servants of St. George's and/or as independent contractors), Defendants–Appellees.

747 F.3d 90

Maria LA RUSSO, as attorney in fact for A. Matthew De Lucia, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.ST. GEORGE'S UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, John Does, 1–5, (as employees, agents, and/or servants of St. George's and/or as independent contractors), Jane Does, 1–5, (as employees, agents, and/or servants of St. George's and/or as independent contractors), Defendants–Appellees.

Docket No. 13–1665–cv.

United States Court of Appeals,

Second Circuit.

Heard: Nov. 5, 2013.

Decided: March 4, 2014.

Joshua S. Moskovitz, Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP, New York, N.Y. (Myron Beldock, Beldock Levine & Hoffman LLP, New York, NY, on the brief), for Appellant.

Gerald W. Sawczyn, Proskauer Rose LLP, New York, N.Y. (Charles S. Sims, Proskauer Rose LLP, New York, NY, on the brief), for Appellees.

Before: NEWMAN, HALL, and LIVINGSTON, Circuit Judges.

JON O. NEWMAN, Circuit Judge.

This appeal primarily concerns a narrow issue of federal procedural law and an equally narrow issue of New York procedural law. The federal law issue is whether a real party defendant in interest that owns and operates a non-juridical entity that was improperly sued in state court may remove a diversity case to federal court without filing an appearance in the state court prior to attempting removal. The state law issue is whether New York's rule tolling a limitations period because of a plaintiff's insanity, N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 208 (McKinney 2013), applies to the facts of this case. These issues arise on an appeal by Plaintiff–Appellant Dr. Maria La Russo, as attorney in fact for her son, A. Matthew De Lucia, from the March 28, 2013, judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Edgardo Ramos, District Judge). The judgment, entered after the District Court denied La Russo's challenge to removal, granted a motion by Defendant–Appellee St. George's University, Ltd. (“SGU Ltd.”) to dismiss because La Russo's complaint was time-barred. See La Russo v. St. George's University School of Medicine, 936 F.Supp.2d 288 (S.D.N.Y.2013) (“Dist. Ct. Op.”). The complaint asserted medical malpractice, breach of contract, and negligence claims based on alleged failures by St. George's University School of Medicine (“SGU Med.” or “the School”) to appropriately treat De Lucia's mental illness.

We conclude that the case was properly removed and that the complaint was properlydismissed as time-barred. We therefore affirm.

Background

The following facts are based primarily on La Russo's complaint, which we assume to be true for purposes of this appeal. See, e.g., Goldstein v. Pataki, 516 F.3d 50, 56 (2d Cir.2008).

La Russo's son, De Lucia, was formerly a student at SGU Med. in Grenada. Prior to his attending the School, La Russo and her son attended an information session at which School staff assured attendees “that there would be medical facilities and treatment available for students on the Grenada Campus, including medical evacuation if needed.” Complaint ¶ 57. They were also provided with a publication entitled “St. George's University School of Medicine; Think Beyond; 2005–2006,” which stated:

University Health Services (UHS) maintains modern clinic facilities with scheduled and walk-in hours from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday. Additionally, there is daily 24–hour coverage by well-credentialed physicians and physician assistants to provide students with emergency care when the clinic is closed. Medical emergencies in Grenada are referred to Grenada General Hospital or St. Augustine Clinic.... University Health Services facilitates with air evacuation, if indicated, on both campuses.

Id. ¶ 58.

In January 2007, De Lucia received a letter of admission from the School. Enclosed with the letter was a handbook from the Office of the Dean of Students that stated, “The Office of the Dean of Students advocates on behalf of students to help you make the best use of the services available both on and off campus. Any student with mental or physical disabilities is provided a wide range of support services.” Id. ¶ 59.

De Lucia began attending the School in August 2007. In the spring of 2009, he visited with his faculty advisor, Dr. Jacqueline Stanley. De Lucia arrived at the meeting looking disheveled and dressed in sweat pants despite the hot climate and asked to see the dean regarding academic issues. Stanley told De Lucia he could not see the dean due to his attire and encouraged him instead to go to the beach and take a vacation. Stanley did not advise De Lucia to “visit the counseling department, speak with the dean of students, or see any medical or mental health professional who would have been able to counsel him and provide medical treatment and medication as necessary.” Id. ¶ 26.

De Lucia went on a sailing trip in May of 2009. Upon his return, he was suffering from mental illness. He wandered aimlessly on and off the school's campus, and was “disoriented” and “sickly.” Id. ¶ 28. Other students alerted School officials to De Lucia's condition. In response, School security officers picked up De Lucia in the middle of the night ¹ and escorted him to Mount Gay Hospital in Grenada, an institution La Russo claims “had a bad reputation, maintained deplorable and unsafe conditions, and did not administer appropriate care.” Id. ¶ 49.

School staff failed to inform De Lucia's parents about his admission to the hospital and failed to provide an “informative response” to his parents' messages. Id. ¶ 34. On May 14, after being notified of De Lucia's admission to the hospital by fellow students, De Lucia's father traveled to the hospital where he found his son “in an outdoor cell lying on a concrete floor without a mattress, naked except for boxer shorts that were hanging down.” Id. ¶ 36. De Lucia was “incoherent due to overdosing of Haldol and other drugs,” id. ¶ 37, and “was experiencing muscle weakness, muscle tremors, dilated eyes, drowsiness, and dry mouth and lips due to his overmedication and a lack of adequate hydration,” id. ¶ 38. His body was “covered with insect bites and a noxious odor of urine and feces permeated his person.” Id. ¶ 39. De Lucia's parents obtained his release from Mount Gay Hospital on May 16, 2009, and he returned to the United States the following day.

De Lucia returned to the School twice in attempts to complete his medical education. On both occasions, however, he became ill and returned to the United States. Since his return to the United States, De Lucia has required medical treatment to ameliorate conditions that were non-existent prior to his admission to Mount Gay Hospital.

La Russo's lawsuit. La Russo initiated a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court by filing a notice and summons. She alleged that SGU Med. engaged in psychiatric malpractice, breached its contract with De Lucia, and was negligent. La Russo's claims were based on the School's response to De Lucia's mental health difficulties while he was a student at the School. Her psychiatric malpractice claim stems from the School's “fail[ure] to refer [De Lucia] to counseling or other medical treatment and, though aware of his condition, [its] fail[ure] to intervene and provide [De Lucia] with proper psychiatric and medical treatment.” Id. ¶ 72.

La Russo also alleges a breach of contract claim. She alleges that a contract was formed between the School and De Lucia “when [the School] offered a variety of educational and related services to [De Lucia] and [De Lucia] agreed to, and did, pay tuition in exchange for those services.” Id. ¶ 77. Further, she alleges that the School “breached the contract when, instead of providing medical treatment by well-credentialed physicians and physician assistants at [the School's] facilities, appropriate emergency care, or emergency evacuation, [the School] failed to provide proper medical treatment....” Id. ¶ 79.

Finally, La Russo alleges that the Defendants owed both herself and De Lucia a duty to exercise “reasonable care and diligence in safeguarding Mr. De Lucia, and ensuring that no unnecessary harm befell him.” Id. ¶ 84. She alleges that the School's employees and/or agents, including Stanley, “negligently failed to use due care” handling De Lucia's mental illness. Id. ¶ 85. She also alleges that the School breached its duty to properly train its employees to “recognize and properly address a student's need for psychological services and/or a student's psychological crisis.” Id. ¶ 86.

La Russo's lawsuit was filed on November 15, 2011. The notice and summons named “St. George's University School of Medicine” as the sole defendant and was amended to add ten “Doe” defendants. La Russo served a copy of the summons and notice on the New York Secretary of State, mailed a copy by certified mail to SGU Med. in Grenada, and also served the summons and notice on St. George's University, LLC, but not SGU Ltd.

On March 7, 2012, La Russo sought an Order to Show Cause seeking permission to file a supplemental summons adding SGU Ltd., SGU LLC, USS LLC, and Stanley as defendants, and seeking a ruling that the claims against the additional defendants related back to the time the initial summons was filed. The Order to Show cause was issued on March 12, 2012. On April 19, 2012, one day before the Order to Show Cause was returnable, SGU Ltd., asserting that it was the entity that owns and operates the non-juridical named defendant in the caption, filed a notice of removal to the District Court.

La Russo moved to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, arguing that because SGU Ltd. had never formally intervened in the action or been joined as a defendant, removal was improper. The District Court denied the motion to dismiss and granted the Defendants' motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) because the medical malpractice claim was time-barred and the contract and negligence claims were duplicative of the malpractice claim.

Discussion

I. Removal

La Russo first contends that SGU Ltd. had no authority to remove this...