Fuerst v. Methodist Hospital South
| Decision Date | 09 January 1978 |
| Citation | 566 S.W.2d 847 |
| Parties | Marguerite Rosemond FUERST, Appellant, v. METHODIST HOSPITAL SOUTH, Appellee. 566 S.W.2d 847 |
| Court | Tennessee Supreme Court |
Frank C. Byrd, Wayne Chastain, Jr., Memphis, for appellant.
Armistead F. Clay and Fred Acuff, Jr., Pittman, Clay, Morgan, Gilliland & Saunders, Memphis, for appellee.
This cause is before us on appeal from the trial judge's dismissal of the plaintiff's action as being barred by the statute of limitations.
On July 22, 1975, the plaintiff, Marguerite Fuerst, filed a complaint in which she alleged, in substance, that she formerly had been employed as a nurse by the defendant, Methodist Hospital, that on April 2, 1974, she was discharged by the defendant on the basis of an unfounded complaint made against her by a patient at the hospital, and that this discharge was an unlawful termination of her contract of employment. In its answer, the defendant admitted that the plaintiff had been employed by it and then discharged, but denied that the discharge was improper.
On June 17, 1976, the defendant filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings, asserting inter alia that the plaintiff had failed to state a claim for relief. In his order overruling the motion, the trial judge stated that he was "of (the) opinion" that the plaintiff's contract was terminable at will and that the plaintiff, therefore, could not establish a claim for breach of contract, but that he was nevertheless denying the motion to dismiss because the complaint might also be read to state a cause of action in tort.
Thereafter, the defendant moved to amend its answer to assert that the plaintiff's claim had been brought more than one year after her cause of action had accrued, and thus was barred by the statute of limitations applicable to tort actions. The trial judge granted the defendant's motion to amend, and dismissed the case sua sponte.
The plaintiff claims that the trial court was in error both in permitting the defendant to amend his answer so as to assert the statute of limitations as a defense, and in dismissing the action sua sponte on that ground, thus implicitly holding that the plaintiff had failed to state a claim for breach of contract.
Amendments to the pleadings are governed by Tenn.R.Civ.P. 15.01, which provides in pertinent part that
(a) party may amend his pleadings once as a matter of course at any time before a responsive pleading is served or, if the pleading is one to which no responsive pleading is permitted and the action has not been set for trial, he may so amend it at any time within 15 days after it is served. Otherwise a party may amend his pleadings only by written consent of the adverse party or by leave of court; and leave shall be freely given when justice so requires. . . .
Here, the defendant attempted to raise an affirmative defense by an amendment to his answer. As he made this motion more than fifteen days after the answer had been filed, he could not do so as a matter of right. However, under rule 15.01 he could do so if given leave to amend by the court. See 5 Wright &...
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...the motion cannot be sustained unless it appears that there are no facts warranting relief. Id. (citing Fuerst v. Methodist Hosp. S., 566 S.W.2d 847, 848-49 (Tenn.1978)). On appeal, all allegations of fact by the Plaintiffs must be taken as true. Stein v. Davidson Hotel Co., 945 S.W.2d 714,......
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...in support of his or her claim that would warrant relief. See Doe v. Sundquist, 2 S.W.3d 919, 922 (Tenn.1999); Fuerst v. Methodist Hosp. S., 566 S.W.2d 847, 848 (Tenn.1978). Great specificity in the pleadings is ordinarily not required to survive a motion to dismiss; it is enough that the c......
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...or her claim that would warrant relief. (emphasis added) See Doe v. Sundquist, 2 S.W.3d 919, 922 (Tenn. 1999); Fuerst v. Methodist Hospital South, 566 S.W.2d 847, 848 (Tenn. 1978). Then, such a determination becomes a question of law. Our review of a trial court's determinations on issues o......
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