EState of Finley v. Cleveland Metroparks

• Citation: 2010 -Ohio- 4013,937 N.E.2d 645
• Decision Date: 26 August 2010
• Docket Number: Nos. 94021, 94069.,s. 94021, 94069.
• Parties: ESTATE OF FINLEY et al., Appellees, v. CLEVELAND METROPARKS et al., Appellants.
• Court: Ohio Court of Appeals

937 N.E.2d 645
2010 -Ohio- 4013

ESTATE OF FINLEY et al., Appellees,
v.
CLEVELAND METROPARKS et al., Appellants.

Nos. 94021, 94069.

Court of Appeals of Ohio,
Eighth District, Cuyahoga County.

Decided Aug. 26, 2010.

937 N.E.2d 647

Robert A. Pecchio, Twinsburg, for appellees.

Janik L.L.P., Steven G. Janik, and Audrey K. Bentz, Cleveland, for appellant Cleveland Metroparks.

Weston Hurd, L.L.P., Hilary S. Taylor, Shawn W. Maestle, and Julius Trombetto, Cleveland, for appellant the city of Brecksville.

JONES, Judge.

*142 {¶ 1} Defendants-appellants, the city of Brecksville ("the city") and the Cleveland Metroparks and others ("the Metroparks"), appeal the trial court's denial of their motions for summary judgment. Finding merit to the appeal, we reverse the decision of the trial court.

{¶ 2} This appeal arises from a lawsuit filed by plaintiffs-appellees, the estate of Sally Finley and Patrick Finley (collectively, "the Finleys"), against the city and the Metroparks, alleging that the city and the Metroparks were negligent in maintaining roads and premises and that their negligence

937 N.E.2d 648

resulted in Sally's death and injuries to Patrick.

{¶ 3} In August 2005, Patrick was driving his motorcycle with his wife on Riverview Road through the Metroparks in Brecksville. As the Finleys were traveling down Riverview, a tree fell into the roadway, and the motorcycle struck the tree. Patrick was injured, and Sally died as a result of her injuries.

{¶ 4} In 2007, the Finleys filed suit against the Metroparks. In 2008, the Finleys moved to amend their complaint to add the city as a new party defendant pursuant to Civ.R. 15(C). The trial court granted the motion. In 2009, the city and the Metroparks separately moved for summary judgment, arguing that they were entitled to immunity as political subdivisions. The trial court granted the motion for summary judgment in favor of the city as to the Finleys' claim for punitive damages, but denied the motions for summary judgment as to the claims for immunity, finding that neither the city nor the Metroparks were immune from liability.

{¶ 5} The city and the Metroparks filed separate notices of appeal. ¹ We have consolidated the two appeals for hearing and disposition.

*143 {¶ 6} In its appeal, the city raises the following three assignments of error for our review:

I. The trial court erred in holding plaintiff[s]-appellees' claims against defendant-appellant the City of Brecksville were not barred by the applicable statute of limitations set forth in R.C. 2744.04(A).

II. The trial court erred in holding that defendant-appellant the City of Brecksville was not immune from liability pursuant to Revised Code Chapter 2744.

III. The trial court erred in holding that defendant-appellant the City of Brecksville was not immune from liability pursuant to the recreational user statute, R.C. 1533.181(A)(1).

{¶ 7} The Metroparks raise the following two assignments of error for our review:

I. The trial court erred in denying the Cleveland Metroparks' motion for summary judgment because the Cleveland Metroparks is entitled to political subdivision immunity.

II. The trial court erred denying the Cleveland Metroparks' motion for summary judgment because the Cleveland Metroparks is entitled to immunity under the recreational user statute.

Statute of Limitations

{¶ 8} As an initial matter, we will discuss whether the trial court erred in denying the city's motion for summary judgment. Based on the following analysis of pertinent law and facts, we find that the trial court erred and that the Finleys' claims against the city are time-barred.

{¶ 9} In this case, R.C. 2744.04 is the applicable statute of limitations that governs actions against political subdivisions. It states as follows:

{¶ 10} "(A) An action against a political subdivision to recover damages for injury, death, or loss to persons or property allegedly caused by any act or omission in connection with a governmental or proprietary function, whether brought as an original action, cross-claim, counterclaim, third-party claim, or claim for subrogation, shall be brought within two years after the

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cause of action accrues, or within any applicable shorter period of time for bringing the action provided by the Revised Code. This division applies to actions brought against political subdivisions by all persons, governmental entities, and the state."

{¶ 11} The accident that injured Patrick and killed Sally occurred on August 1, 2005. The Finleys filed their complaint against the Metroparks on July 22, 2007. The Finleys then moved to amend their complaint and add the city as a defendant *144 on August 21, 2008, more than three years after the accident occurred and more than one year after the statute of limitations against the city had expired.

{¶ 12} The Finleys argued to the trial court that pursuant to Civ.R. 15(C), they should be allowed to add the city to the complaint because they did not know that the tree might be located on city property until after reading the Metroparks' motion for summary judgment in April 2008. The trial court granted the motion to amend the complaint and denied the city's subsequent motion to dismiss and motion for summary judgment.

{¶ 13} Civ.R. 15(C) provides as follows:

{¶ 14} "Relation back of amendments. Whenever 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, the amendment relates back to the date of the original pleading. An amendment changing the party against whom a claim is asserted relates back if the foregoing provision is satisfied and, within the period provided by law for commencing the action against him, the party to be brought in by amendment (1) has received such notice of the institution of the action that he will not be prejudiced in maintaining his defense on the merits, and (2) knew or should have known that, but for a mistake concerning the identity of the proper party, the action would have been brought against him."

{¶ 15} Civ.R. 15(C) sets forth three requirements that must be met before an amendment "changing the party" can relate back to the original pleading. First, the claim in the amended complaint must arise "out of the conduct, transaction, or occurrence set forth or attempted to be set forth in the original pleading." Second, the party sought to be substituted by the amendment must have received notice of the action "within the period provided by law for commencing the action," so that the party is not prejudiced in maintaining a defense. Third, the new party, "within the period provided by law for commencing the action," knew or should have known that, but for a mistake concerning the proper party's identity, the action would have been brought against the new party.

{¶ 16} The primary purpose of Civ.R. 15(C) is to preserve actions that, through mistaken identity or misnomer, have been filed against the wrong person. Littleton v. Good Samaritan Hosp. & Health Ctr. (1988), 39 Ohio St.3d 86, 101, 529 N.E.2d 449. The decision whether to allow an amendment to relate back under Civ.R. 15(C) lies within the discretion of the trial court. Patterson v. V & M Auto Body (1992), 63 Ohio St.3d 573, 576, 589 N.E.2d 1306. In this case, we find that the trial court abused its discretion in allowing the amendment to add the city as a new party defendant.

*145 {¶ 17} The city argued that the Finleys filed their amended complaint, which added the city as a party, after the applicable statute of limitations had expired and that the amended complaint should not relate back to the date of the filing of the original complaint. The Finleys responded by arguing that Civ.R. 15(C) can be

937 N.E.2d 650

used to add new parties to an action even after the applicable statute of limitations expires.

{¶ 18} In 1994, the Ohio Supreme Court clarified that Civ.R. 15(C) may not be used to add a party to a cause of action. Kraly v. Vannewkirk (1994), 69 Ohio St.3d 627, 635 N.E.2d 323. In Bykova v. Szucs, Cuyahoga App. No. 87629, 2006-Ohio-6424, 2006 WL 3517958, we noted that historical case law and "[a] review of Civ.R. 15(C) suggests that it is limited to an amended pleading changing the party against whom a claim is asserted." Id. at ¶ 4. Civ.R. 15(C) does not allow for the adding of a new party to an original action under the relation-back doctrine after the statute of limitations has expired. Bykova. "When a new party is added, a new cause of action is created and will not relate back to the date of filing the original action for statute of limitations purposes." Id. at ¶ 4.

{¶ 19} Although some courts have allowed substitution of a party after the applicable statute of limitations has expired, it is only when the design is to substitute a party to correct a misnomer or to resolve minor errors. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Sandhu Auto Mechanic, Inc. (Oct. 16, 1986), Cuyahoga App. No. 51218, 1986 WL 11655. The common misnomer case is concerned with substituting a middle initial or substituting "incorporation" in place of "company." Id.

{¶ 20} Recently, we reiterated that Civ.R. 15(C) may not be used to add a new party to a case. In Roche v. On Time Delivery Servs. Inc., Cuyahoga App. No. 94036, 2010-Ohio-2358, 2010 WL 2136656, the plaintiff appealed the trial court's denial of his motion to amend his pleading to change the name of the defendant from On Time Delivery Services to On Time Delivery and to add the administrator of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation as a new-party defendant. While we found that the trial court erred in disallowing Roche to amend his complaint to rename the delivery company, we upheld the court's decision to deny Roche the opportunity to add the administrator to the suit. We noted that "[w]hen courts state that 'a new party' cannot be added, they do not mean that the original party cannot be substituted with a new party." Id. at ¶ 31. "...