Lafferty v. St. Riel

• Decision Date: 08 November 2005
• Docket Number: No. Civ.A. 05-4094.,Civ.A. 05-4094.
• Citation: 397 F.Supp.2d 602
• Parties: Debra A. LAFFERTY, et al. v. Gito ST. RIEL, et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

397 F.Supp.2d 602

Debra A. LAFFERTY, et al. v. Gito ST. RIEL, et al.

No. Civ.A. 05-4094.

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

November 8, 2005.

Arthur S. Novello, Dashevsky, Horwitz, Di Sandro, Kuhn, Dempsey and Novello, Philadelphia, PA, Daniel J. Cahill, Youngblood Corcoran Lafferty & Hyberg, Linwood, NJ, for Debra A. Lafferty, et al.

Lloyd G. Parry, Davis Parry & Tyler, Philadelphia, PA, for Gito St. Riel, et al.

MEMORANDUM

BARTLE, District Judge.

This is a diversity action in which plaintiffs seek damages for personal injuries allegedly suffered in an automobile accident in West Earl Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The action was originally filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey where plaintiffs reside. That court found venue to be improper under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(a) because both named defendants reside in Pennsylvania, and it transferred the action to this District pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a). Before the court is the motion of defendants for judgment on the pleadings. They contend that the action is barred by the Pennsylvania statute of limitations.¹

According to the complaint, the accident occurred on or about July 17, 2003. The action was filed in the District of New Jersey on July 11, 2005 and was ordered transferred to this District on July 27, 2005. In a diversity action, the Constitution requires that we apply the substantive law, including the conflict of laws rules, of the state where the District Court sits. Erie R.R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938); Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Elec. Mfg. Co., Inc., 313 U.S. 487, 61 S.Ct. 1020, 85 L.Ed. 1477 (1941). The substantive law of a state includes its statutes of limitations. Guaranty Trust Co. of New York v. York, 326 U.S. 99, 65 S.Ct. 1464, 89 L.Ed. 2079 (1945). Erie and its progeny are grounded on the notion that actions in a state court and a federal court involving the same transaction or accident "should not lead to a substantially different result." See Ferens v. John Deere Co., 494 U.S. 516, 524, 110 S.Ct. 1274, 108 L.Ed.2d 443 (1990).

If an action is transferred from a federal district court in one state to a federal district court in another state under 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) "for the convenience of the parties, in the interest of justice," the Supreme Court has held in Van Dusen v. Barrack, 376 U.S. 612, 639, 84 S.Ct. 805, 11 L.Ed.2d 945 (1964), and in Ferens, 494 U.S. at 527-28, 110 S.Ct. 1274, that the law of the state where the action was initially filed governs. A transfer under § 1404(a) presupposes that the action was originally instituted in a correct forum. In contrast, a transfer under § 1406(a) can occur only when the case, like this one, is originally filed in the wrong forum. It provides: "The district court of a district in which is filed a case laying venue in the wrong division or district shall dismiss, or if it be in the interest of justice, transfer such case to any district or division in which it could have been brought." Since venue in the District of New Jersey was improper, the state law of the transferee forum, in this case, the law of Pennsylvania, must be applied. Schaeffer v. Village of Ossining, 58 F.3d 48, 50 (2d Cir.1995); Tel-Phonic Services, Inc. v. TBS Int'l, Inc., 975 F.2d 1134 (5th Cir.1992). If this were not the rule, plaintiffs would have every incentive to initiate suit in the wrong federal forum if by doing so they could obtain the benefit of more favorable law, including a longer statute of limitations.

The Pennsylvania statute of limitations for a personal injury action is two years. 42 Pa. Cons.Stat. Ann. § 5524(2). While the action was filed in the New Jersey federal court within two years after the cause of action accrued,² the defendants argue that the Pennsylvania statute had run by the time the case was transferred to this District on July 27, 2005, the accident having occurred on July 17, 2003.

Under Pennsylvania law, an action is commenced by filing with the prothonotary of a Common Pleas Court either a praecipe for a writ of summons or a complaint. Pa. R. Civ. P. 1007. Tolling of the statute of limitations occurs at that time. See 42 Pa. Cons.Stat. Ann. §§ 5503 and 5524. Significantly, Pennsylvania law also provides:

(a) ... A matter which is within the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or district justice of this Commonwealth but which is commenced in any other tribunal of this Commonwealth shall be transferred by the other tribunal to the proper court or magisterial district of this Commonwealth where it shall be treated as if originally filed in the transferee court or magisterial district of this Commonwealth on the date when first filed in the other tribunal.

(b)(1) Subsection (a) shall also apply to any matter transferred or remanded by any United States court for a district embracing any part of this Commonwealth. In order to preserve a claim under Chapter 55 (relating to limitation of time), a litigant who timely commences an action or proceeding in any United States court for a district embracing any part of this Commonwealth is not required to commence a protective action in a court or before a district justice of this Commonwealth. Where a matter is filed in any United States court for a district embracing any part of this Commonwealth and the matter is dismissed by the United States court for lack of jurisdiction, any litigant in the matter filed may transfer the matter to a court or magisterial district of this Commonwealth by complying with the transfer provisions set forth in paragraph (2).

42 Pa. Cons.Stat. Ann. § 5103(a) and (b)(1).

Thus, the statute of limitations is tolled when a complaint is filed in a Pennsylvania state court or in any of the three federal district courts within the borders of the Commonwealth. Section 5103(b)(1) by its terms eliminates the need for a state court protective action when a lawsuit is filed in a Pennsylvania federal district court. If an action is timely brought in the Eastern, Middle, or Western District of Pennsylvania, it may be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, or transferred to a Pennsylvania state court or to one of the other Pennsylvania federal courts without fear that the dismissal or transfer will result in the statute of limitations barring the action. That, however, is as far as § 5103(a) and (b)(1) goes. There are no provisions for tolling when a federal or state action is filed elsewhere. Nor is there anything in § 5103(a) and (b)(1) which states that the filing in a federal transferor court outside of Pennsylvania constitutes the commencement of an action for statute of limitations purposes if it is later transferred to a Pennsylvania federal court.³ The reference in § 5103(a) and (b)(1) to the courts and district justices of Pennsylvania and to United States courts for the districts embracing a part of the Commonwealth necessarily means the exclusion of all other courts. See Scott Twp. Appeal, 388 Pa. 539, 130 A.2d 695, 698 (Pa.1957). Our Court of Appeals has reiterated that "if the action is barred by a Pennsylvania statute of limitations, no action can be maintained in Pennsylvania even though the action is not barred elsewhere." Overfield v. Pennroad Corp., 146 F.2d 889, 898 (3d Cir.1944). Consequently, in order to avoid the possibility that the statute of limitations will bar an action in situations not exempted by § 5103(a) and (b)(1), it is necessary for a plaintiff to file a protective action in a Pennsylvania state court or one of the federal district courts sitting within the Commonwealth. This, of course, was not done here.

We are mindful of Rule 3 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure which reads, "a civil action is commenced by filing a complaint with the court." Accordingly, we must determine whether the Pennsylvania statute of limitations must be applied or whether we are dealing with a matter of procedure where the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure control. If Rule 3 prevails, the clock stopped on July 11, 2005 when the action was filed in the District of New Jersey. This would make the action timely.

We begin with the Supreme Court's decision in Hanna v. Plumer, 380 U.S. 460, 85 S.Ct. 1136, 14 L.Ed.2d 8 (1965). There the Court was faced with the question whether service of process in a diversity case must be made in accordance with state law or Rule 4(d)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. While service complied with the specific provisions of the Rule, Massachusetts required the service of a complaint on an executor or administrator by "delivery in hand," which had not occurred. The District Court granted summary judgment to defendant because of inadequate service, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed. It held that the method of service was a matter of procedure governed by Rule 4 and not by state law. The Court explained, "The `outcome-determination' test ... cannot be read without reference to the twin aims of the Erie rule: discouragement of forum shopping and avoidance of inequitable administration of the laws." Id. at 468, 85 S.Ct. 1136. The Court went on to observe that "To hold that a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure must cease to function whenever it alters the mode of enforcing state-created rights would be to disembowel either the Constitution's grant of power over federal procedure or Congress' attempt to exercise that power in the Enabling Act [28 U.S.C. § 2072]." Id. at 473-74, 85 S.Ct. 1136.

Some fifteen years later, in Walker v. Armco Steel Corp., 446 U.S. 740, 100 S.Ct. 1978, 64 L.Ed.2d 659 (1980), the Supreme Court again grappled with the question as to when a diversity action is commenced for purposes of the tolling of the Oklahoma statute of limitations. The Oklahoma limitations period continues to run until the summons is served on the defendant, with certain exceptions not relevant there. In that case, while the action was filed in the United States...