Pyco Supply Co., Inc. v. American Centennial Ins. Co.

• Citation: 364 S.E.2d 380,321 N.C. 435
• Decision Date: 03 February 1988
• Docket Number: No. 223A87,223A87
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of North Carolina
• Parties: PYCO SUPPLY COMPANY, INC. v. AMERICAN CENTENNIAL INSURANCE COMPANY v. CAROLINA ROAD BUILDERS, INC., H. Keith Duncan, Curtis L. Clark, Patty D. Clark, Leonard Simmons and Betty M. Simmons.

Page 380

364 S.E.2d 380

321 N.C. 435

PYCO SUPPLY COMPANY, INC. v. AMERICAN CENTENNIAL INSURANCE COMPANY v. CAROLINA ROAD BUILDERS, INC., H. Keith Duncan, Curtis L.

Clark, Patty D. Clark, Leonard Simmons and Betty M. Simmons.

No. 223A87.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

Feb. 3, 1988.

Weinstein & Sturges, P.A. by Hugh B. Campbell, Jr., Charlotte, for plaintiff-appellant.

Nichols, Caffrey, Hill, Evans & Murrelle by William L. Stocks and B. Danforth Morton, Greensboro, for defendant-appellee.

FRYE, Justice.

The issue presented on this appeal is whether the Court of Appeals erred when it reversed the decision of the trial court that allowed plaintiff to amend its complaint and have the amended complaint relate back to the filing of its original complaint. The underlying issue then is whether the original complaint in this action gave "notice of the transactions, occurrences, or series of transactions or occurrences" which formed the basis for the amended complaint within the meaning of Rules 8(a)(1) and 15(c) of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. We answer both questions in the affirmative, and therefore reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals.

I.

This dispute arises from a construction project wherein the Town of Pilot Mountain contracted with Carolina Roadbuilders, Inc. (CRB) to lay a new water line for the town. CRB purchased a large quantity of pipe from plaintiff to use in fulfilling its contracts with the town for the water line project. When CRB became financially unable to pay the balance owed to plaintiff in connection with the water line project, plaintiff instituted this suit against CRB's surety, American Centennial Insurance Company (American Centennial).

Prior to filing its complaint, plaintiff had written to the Town of Pilot Mountain concerning its water system improvement project and the fact that plaintiff had not been paid in full for materials supplied to the town's general contractor, CRB. Plaintiff requested that the Town of Pilot Mountain "furnish to [it] a certified copy of the payment bond and construction contract covered by the bond" pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 44A-31. The town manager of Pilot Mountain responded by enclosing a certified copy of payment bond AB001871 and "the contract between the Town of Pilot Mountain and [CRB]." Plaintiff, believing this payment bond and contract covered the entire water line project, attached copies of both as Exhibit "A" to its complaint.

Because of the significance of the pleadings to this dispute, a thorough examination of the procedural posture is warranted. This action was instituted by a complaint filed 2 November 1984, as follows:

1. Plaintiff Pyco Supply Co., Inc., is a corporation duly incorporated under the laws of the State of South Carolina and duly authorized to do business in the State of North Carolina with an office in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

2. Defendant American Centennial Insurance Company is an insurance company which Plaintiff is informed and believes and so alleges is duly incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware and duly authorized by the State of North Carolina to write insurance contracts in this State including performance and payment bonds.

3. Plaintiff is informed and believes and so alleges that American Centennial Insurance Company wrote a payment bond (Bond No. AB0018710A) wherein American Centennial bound itself as surety to assure payment of all material suppliers supplying material to Carolina Roadbuilders, Inc. in connection with a contract for construction and completion of water line improvements for the Town of Pilot Mountain, North Carolina. A copy of this payment bond together with the contract between the Town of Pilot Mountain and Carolina Roadbuilders, Inc. is attached hereto as Exhibit "A" and incorporated herein by reference.

4. Over a period of time running from approximately November 10, 1982, through approximately January 24, 1984, Plaintiff sold and delivered to Carolina Roadbuilders, Inc., certain pipe and other plumbing materials for use in connection with the aforesaid water line improvement project. After giving Carolina Roadbuilders, Inc., credit for all payments or authorized return of material, Plaintiff is still owed the sum of $14,305.77 for materials furnished in connection with this project. Despite Plaintiff's repeated demands for payment, Carolina Roadbuilders, Inc., has failed and refused to make the payment to Plaintiff for more than ninety days since the date of last delivery of materials.

5. Plaintiff brings this action to recover the amount owed to it pursuant to Chapter 44A, Article 3 of the General Statutes of North Carolina which chapter provides for the procedure to make recovery on payment bonds.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays that it have and recover of the Defendant, the sum of $14,305.77; that it recover interest at the highest amount allowed by law; that it recover its costs in connection with this action; and that it have such other and further relief as to the Court may seem just and proper.

After filing an answer and third party complaint, American Centennial moved for summary judgment against plaintiff. Subsequently, plaintiff asserted that it learned from another suit pending against CRB in another jurisdiction that the water line project had been divided into four separate contracts, with CRB receiving contracts one, two and four, and that CRB had purchased a separate bond from American Centennial on each of the three contracts. Plaintiff also learned that the materials for which it had not been paid were used in connection with that part of the project covered by contract four, not contract two that had been attached to its complaint. Plaintiff then moved to amend its original complaint so as to remove as an exhibit the bond and contract attached to its complaint, to delete the parenthetical reference to the bond found in paragraph three, and instead to allege generally that American Centennial had written bonds to secure those parties who had furnished material in connection with the water line project. At the hearing on plaintiff's motion to amend, the trial court also heard American Centennial's motion for summary judgment based on an affidavit which showed that as to contract two, more than one year had passed since materials were last furnished.

The trial court granted plaintiff's motion to amend its original complaint to state a claim which would include contract four, finding that there was no prejudice to American Centennial since the original complaint had fully notified American Centennial that plaintiff had not been paid in full for the pipe plaintiff had furnished on the water line project over the period between November, 1982 and January, 1984. In its order, the trial judge noted that plaintiff's proposed amendment would be useless unless the court allowed it to relate back to the filing date of the original complaint so that the amended claim would escape the time bar of the statute. The trial judge also entered summary judgment for defendant on any claim relating to materials furnished on that portion of the water line project covered by contract two based on the agreement of all parties that this was appropriate. Defendant's answer to plaintiff's amended complaint included a plea that the action was barred by a one-year limitation included in the payment bonds executed by American Centennial as surety for CRB notwithstanding the amendment. Defendant in its third defense, alleged:

To the extent that the plaintiff has commenced an action on any of the payment bonds which were executed by American Centennial as surety for Carolina Roadbuilders, Inc., other than the payment bond contract No. 2, such action was not commenced until the amended complaint by the plaintiff was allowed which was more than one year following the date on which the principal, Carolina Roadbuilders, Inc., ceased work on the contracts referred to in the payment bonds.

Defendant also pleaded the limitation contained in N.C.G.S. § 44A-28(b), alleging:

Any action by the plaintiff with reference to the bonds issued on contracts 1 or 4 was commenced after the time permitted by the above-quoted statute which is hereby pleaded in bar of any recovery by the plaintiff in this action.

Through these allegations, defendant effectively challenged the trial court's decision to allow the amendment to relate back to the date the original complaint was filed. Both parties subsequently moved for summary judgment on the amended pleadings and supporting affidavits. The trial court granted summary judgment for plaintiff in the amount of $14,305.77 against defendant American Centennial, and summary judgment in favor of defendant American Centennial against CRB in the same amount. Only American Centennial appealed to the Court of Appeals.

II.

The Court of Appeals reversed the summary judgment for plaintiff, holding that the time restriction of N.C.G.S. § 44A-28(b) was a statute of repose and not a statute of limitation and as such, relation back was inappropriate. The Court of Appeals reasoned that since the one year limitation in the statute was a substantive element of the claim that had gone unsatisfied, the amended complaint could not relate back to the date of the filing of the original complaint. Therefore, any action on contract four which appeared in the amended complaint was barred since it was added beyond the one year limitation. The Chief Judge dissented in a one paragraph opinion as follows:

In my opinion, the trial court did not err in allowing plaintiff to amend its complaint to omit the specific reference to Bond No. AB0018710A, and I vote to affirm summary judgment for plaintiff. G.S. 1A-1, Rule 15(c) allows the matter pleaded in the amendment to relate back so as to affirmatively disclose that plaintiff's claim is not barred by any statute of limitations or repose. The record discloses there are no genuine issues of material fact and...