Ex Parte Brookwood Health Services, Inc.
| Decision Date | 22 June 2018 |
| Docket Number | 1170054 |
| Citation | 265 So.3d 1261 |
| Parties | EX PARTE BROOKWOOD HEALTH SERVICES, INC. (In re: Rita Kay v. Brookwood Baptist Health LLC—Brookwood Baptist Health Services) |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Thomas A. Kendrick and Holly S. Bell of Norman, Wood, Kendrick & Turner, Birmingham, for petitioner.
Richard A. Rice of The Rice Firm, LLC, Birmingham, for respondent.
Brookwood Health Services, Inc., the defendant below, filed a petition for a writ of mandamus directing the Jefferson Circuit Court to dismiss Rita Kay's action against it. We grant the petition and issue the writ.
On October 8, 2016, Kay filed a complaint against "Brookwood Baptist Health LLC" and fictitiously named defendants pursuant to the Alabama Medical Liability Act, § 6–5–480 et seq. and § 6–5–540 et seq., Ala. Code 1975, based on injuries she allegedly suffered at the hands of another patient while she was being treated in the Psychiatric and Behavioral Health Inpatient Services Unit at Brookwood Baptist Medical Center from October 8, 2014, until October 12, 2014. She asserted claims of medical negligence, false imprisonment, negligence and wantonness, breach of contract, and negligent and/or wanton hiring, training, and/or supervision. The complaint included an attachment that requested that the defendant be served by certified mail at the following address: "Brookwood Baptist Health 1, LLC, c/o CT Corporation System, 2 North Jackson Street Ste 605, Montgomery, AL 36104." The summons cover sheet requested notice by certified mail to "Brookwood Baptist Health LLC, c/o CT Corporation System[,] 2 North Jackson Street, Montgomery, AL 36104."
On November 9, 2016, CT Corporation System sent a letter to Kay's counsel, stating:
On December 16, 2016, the trial court entered an order stating:
"[Kay] is allowed forty-two days to perfect service on defendant Brookwood Baptist Health LLC, or this defendant may be dismissed."
Two certified-mail receipts were filed with the circuit clerk on February 27, 2017. The first was directed to "Keith Parrott/Brookwood Baptist, 1130 22nd Street South, Ridge Park Place, Suite 1000, Birmingham, AL 35203." It was signed by T. Coleman and dated as delivered on February 13, 2017. The second certified-mail receipt was directed to "CT Corporation System, Brookwood Baptist Health, 2 North Jackson Street Ste 605, Montgomery, AL 36104." It was signed/stamped by Laura Payne and dated as delivered on February 13, 2017. On February 27, 2017, the trial court entered the following order:
On March 16, 2017, "Brookwood Baptist Health, LLC," filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rules 12(b)(2), (4), and (5), Ala. R. Civ. P., for lack of personal jurisdiction, insufficiency of process, and insufficiency of service of process. It argued that Brookwood Baptist Health, LLC, was not a current legal entity and that it was not a legal entity in existence at the time of the events upon which the complaint was based. Brookwood Baptist Health, LLC, also argued that Brookwood Baptist Health 1, LLC, was a foreign, limited-liability company with its principal place of business in Dallas, Texas; that it was formed in Delaware on or about June 19, 2015; that it had been doing business in Alabama since September 30, 2015; and that it was not a legal entity that was in existence at the time of the events that formed the basis for the action. Finally, Brookwood Baptist Health, LLC, argued that neither Brookwood Baptist Health, LLC, nor Brookwood Baptist Health 1, LLC, had properly been served with process and that, even if service signed for by Coleman had been proper, it was made outside the 120 days for perfecting service.
On May 2, 2017, the trial court entered an order in which it continued the motion to dismiss generally and allowed Kay 30 days to amend the complaint and perfect service on the defendants.
On June 3, 2017, Kay filed an amended complaint in which she named "Brookwood Baptist Health Services," rather than "Brookwood Baptist Health LLC," as the defendant. The complaint included an attachment that requested that the defendant be served by certified mail at the following address: "Brookwood Health Services, Inc., c/o CT Corporation System, 2 North Jackson Street Ste 605, Montgomery, AL 36104." The summons cover sheet requested notice by certified mail to "Brookwood Health Services, Inc., c/o CT Corporation System[,] 2 North Jackson Street, Montgomery, AL 36104."
On August 10, 2017, Brookwood Health Services, Inc., filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint. It noted initially that it had been incorrectly designated as "Brookwood Baptist Health Services" in the amended complaint. Brookwood Health Services, Inc., then moved to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Rules 12(b)(5) and (6), Ala. R. Civ. P., for insufficiency of service of process and as being barred by the two-year statute of limitations set forth in § 6–5–482, Ala. Code 1975.
On September 4, 2017, Kay filed a response to the motion to dismiss filed by Brookwood Health Services, Inc. She argued that service of process on Brookwood Health Services, Inc., had been proper; that the action was not barred by the statute of limitations; and that Brookwood Health Services, Inc., had been put on notice of the filing of the complaint. It does not appear that she submitted any evidence in support of her motion.
On September 7, 2017, the trial court denied the motion to dismiss. This petition followed.
" ‘ "A writ of mandamus is an extraordinary remedy, and it ‘will be issued only when there is: 1) a clear legal right in the petitioner to the order sought; 2) an imperative duty upon the respondent to perform, accompanied by a refusal to do so; 3) the lack of another adequate remedy; and 4) properly invoked jurisdiction of the court.’ " ’ Ex parte Monsanto Co., 862 So.2d 595, 604 (Ala. 2003) (quoting Ex parte Butts, 775 So.2d 173, 176 (Ala. 2000), quoting in turn Ex parte United Serv. Stations, Inc., 628 So.2d 501, 503 (Ala. 1993) ). We note that generally ‘[t]he fact that a statute of limitations defense is applicable is not a proper basis for issuing a writ of mandamus, due to the availability of a remedy by appeal.’ Ex parte Southland Bank, 514 So.2d 954, 955 (Ala. 1987). A petition for a writ of mandamus, however, is the proper means to seek review of an order denying a motion to dismiss or for a summary judgment filed by a defendant added after the statute of limitations has run, under Rule 15(c)(3), Ala. R. Civ. P., which governs the relation back of amended complaints when the defendant has received notice of the action so that the defendant will not be prejudiced in maintaining a defense on the merits and the defendant knew or should have known that, but for a mistake concerning the identity of the proper party, the action would have been brought against the defendant. See, e.g., Ex parte Empire Gas Corp., 559 So.2d 1072 (Ala. 1990) (). See also Ex parte Jackson, 780 So.2d 681 (Ala. 2000), Ex parte Snow, 764 So.2d 531 (Ala. 1999), and Ex parte Stover, 663 So.2d 948 (Ala. 1995)."
Ex parte Novus Utils., Inc., 85 So.3d 988, 995–96 (Ala. 2011).
Brookwood Health Services, Inc., argues that Kay's action against it is barred by the two-year statute of limitations set forth in § 6–5–482(a), Ala. Code 1975.1 Specifically, it contends that the statute of limitations expired on October 10, 2016; that it was not named as a defendant until the amended complaint was filed on June 3, 2017; and that it did not receive the amended complaint until July 12, 2017. After acknowledging that Kay may have named it in place of Brookwood Baptist Health LLC in an attempt to invoke the provisions of Rule 15(c)(3), Ala. R. Civ. P., Brookwood Health Services, Inc., asserts that the action against it did not relate back to the original filing because the requirements of Rule 15(c)(3) were not satisfied.
Kay asserts that she "filed the complaint against [Brookwood Health Services, Inc.], including its many aliases, on October 8, 2016." She then argues:
Rule 15(c), Ala. R. Civ. P., provides, in relevant part:
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