Wilner v. White

• Decision Date: 18 May 2006
• Docket Number: No. 2003-CT-01733-SCT.,2003-CT-01733-SCT.
• Citation: 929 So.2d 315
• Parties: Iris M. WILNER v. M. Neil WHITE, M.D., and Gulf Coast OB/Gyn, P.A.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

929 So.2d 315

Iris M. WILNER v. M. Neil WHITE, M.D., and Gulf Coast OB/Gyn, P.A.

No. 2003-CT-01733-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

May 18, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Jack C. Pickett, Henri M. Saunders, attorneys for Appellant.

John A. Banahan, Pascagoula, Matthew Floyd Jones, Melinda Owen Johnson, Pascagoula, attorneys for Appellees.

EN BANC.

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI

CARLSON, Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. This case is before us on writ of certiorari from a judgment of the Court of Appeals. The Appellees/Petitioners, M. Neil White, M.D., and Gulf Coast OB/ GYN, P. A., were added as parties to this action in the Circuit Court of Jackson County by an amended complaint; however, the trial court granted the motion for summary judgment filed by the doctor and his clinic, finding the applicable statute of limitations had expired by the time the amended complaint was filed. On appeal, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's grant of summary judgment and remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings.¹ Finding here that the trial court properly granted summary judgment, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals and reinstate and affirm the judgment of the Circuit Court of Jackson County.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS IN THE TRIAL COURT AND THE COURT OF APPEALS

¶ 2. On January 27, 1997, Iris Wilner underwent diagnostic laparoscopy, performed by Dr. Neil White at Singing River Hospital. She was later diagnosed with compression neuropathy after experiencing weeks of pain, weakness, and numbness in her left leg. On February 12, 1998, Wilner filed suit naming Singing River Hospital, a nurse, and John Does 1-4 as the defendants. Exactly two years after the laparoscopy, and nearly one year after the then-named defendants filed responsive pleadings, Wilner, without leave of court, filed an amended complaint on January 27, 1999 naming four additional defendants including the two parties involved here, Dr. White and Gulf Coast OB/GYN, P.A.² Wilner claims to have realized only during discovery that she had a cause of action against these two parties. Dr. White worked with Gulf Coast OB/GYN, P.A. (Dr. White and Gulf Coast OB/GYN, P.A. will be hereinafter referred to collectively as "White"). Wilner had deposed Dr. White on August 12, 1998. The same day she filed her amended complaint, Wilner also filed a motion for leave of court to amend the complaint. White later filed a motion to dismiss because no leave of court had been granted to amend the complaint before the two-year statute of limitations expired. The trial court denied Wilner's motion for leave to amend, finding the motion to be a nullity, and dismissed the putative amended complaint, because there were never any proceedings to allow the amendment, nor was consent of the adverse party given. See Miss. R. Civ. P. 15(a). The trial court also found the amendment could not relate back to the original complaint. Wilner appealed the trial court's dismissal of the amended complaint, and the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's dismissal of the amended complaint and remanded the case with instructions that the amendment be allowed and that the case proceed. Wilner v. White, 788 So.2d 822 (Miss.Ct.App.2001) (Wilner I). Following remand, White filed a motion for summary judgment based on the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations. The trial court granted White's summary judgment motion, finding that, because the amended complaint did not relate back to the original complaint under Miss. R. Civ. P. Rule 15(c), the amended complaint was time-barred. See Miss.Code Ann. § 15-1-36. Wilner again appealed, and the Court of Appeals issued its second opinion on July 13, 2004, affirming the trial court's grant of summary judgment. See Wilner v. White, 2004 WL 1558070 (Miss.Ct.App. 2004) (not reported in the Southern Reporter) (Wilner II). Wilner filed a Motion for Rehearing, and on December 13, 2005, the Court of Appeals granted the motion for rehearing, withdrew its original opinion of July 13, 2004, and substituted an opinion which reversed the trial court's grant of summary judgment, and remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with that opinion. See Wilner v. White, 929 So.2d 343, 2005 WL 3378639 (Miss.Ct.App.2005) (Wilner III). White petitioned this Court for a writ of certiorari, which we granted to resolve an issue of conflicting law on when amended complaints can be treated as original complaints, and when amended complaints relate back to the original complaints.

DISCUSSION

¶ 3. "The Supreme Court's review of the grant of certiorari shall be conducted on the record and briefs previously filed in the Court of Appeals and on any supplemental briefs filed." M.R.A.P. 17(h). The standard of review in considering on appeal a trial court's grant or denial of summary judgment is de novo. Satchfield v. R.R. Morrison & Son, Inc., 872 So.2d 661, 663 (Miss.2004); McMillan v. Rodriguez, 823 So.2d 1173, 1176-77 (Miss. 2002); Lewallen v. Slawson, 822 So.2d 236, 237-38 (Miss.2002); Jenkins v. Ohio Cas. Ins. Co., 794 So.2d 228, 232 (Miss.2001); Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Berry, 669 So.2d 56, 70 (Miss.1996). In considering this issue, we must examine all the evidentiary matters before us, including admissions in pleadings, answers to interrogatories, depositions, and affidavits. Aetna, 669 So.2d at 70. The evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party against whom the motion has been made. Id. Issues of fact sufficient to require a denial of a motion for summary judgment are obviously present where one party swears to one version of the matter in issue and another party takes the opposite position. American Legion Ladnier Post No. 42 v. Ocean Springs, 562 So.2d 103, 106 (Miss. 1990). If no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, summary judgment should be entered in that party's favor. Price v. Purdue Pharma Co., 920 So.2d 479, 483-84 (Miss.2006); Monsanto Co. v. Hall, 912 So.2d 134, 136 (Miss.2005). The movant carries the burden of demonstrating that no genuine issue of material fact exists, and the non-moving party is given the benefit of the doubt as to the existence of a material fact issue. Id. However, our decisions which discuss this rule are clear that when a motion for summary judgment is made and supported as provided in Miss. R. Civ. P. 56, an adverse party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of the pleadings, but instead the response must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Stuckey v. Provident Bank, 912 So.2d 859, 864 (Miss.2005); Miller v. Meeks, 762 So.2d 302, 304 (Miss. 2000) (citing Brown v. Credit Ctr., Inc., 444 So.2d 358, 362 (Miss.1983)). See also URCCC 4.03(2). "If he does not so respond, summary judgment, if appropriate, shall be entered against him." Miss. R. Civ. P. 56(e). If any triable issues of fact exist, the trial court's decision to grant summary judgment will be reversed. Otherwise, the decision is affirmed. Miller, 762 So.2d at 304.

WHETHER AN AMENDED COMPLAINT MAY BE TREATED AS AN ORIGINAL COMPLAINT, OR RELATE BACK TO THE ORIGINAL COMPLAINT, WHEN THE MOTION TO AMEND WAS FILED WITHIN THE STATUTORY TIME LIMITATION.

¶ 4. The Court of Appeals ruled in its first opinion that the motion to amend should have been granted, basing its decision in part on Miss. R. Civ. P. 15(a) which states that, when justice so requires, leave to amend shall be freely given, and in part on the fact that the motion to amend was filed within the statutory time allowed. Wilner I, 788 So.2d at 824. Subsequently, this Court decided Curry v. Turner, 832 So.2d 508 (Miss. 2002). In Curry, we held that the filing of a motion to amend does not toll the statute of limitations until the trial court rules on the motion. Id. at 514. The result of this holding is that, "if an amended complaint is filed after the statute of limitations has run — regardless of when the motion to amend was made — the statute of limitations bars suits against newly named defendants." Id. at 511. However, we also examined whether the amended complaint in Curry related back to the original complaint under Miss. R. Civ. P. 15(c). This Court in Curry did not allow the amended complaint for two reasons — the motion to amend did not toll the statute of limitations and the amended complaint did not relate back to the original complaint. Id. at 513-14. The Court of Appeals acknowledged Curry in Wilner III, and framed the issue this way: "[t]he question now is whether, in the light of Curry, the trial court erred in granting summary judgment. It seems rather clear that unless (1) the amendment relates back to the original filing, (2) Curry is distinguishable, or (3) the amended complaint can be treated, for purposes of the added parties, as an original complaint, Wilner cannot prevail." 2005 WL 3378639 at *3, 929 So.2d at 347. The Court of Appeals held that option (3) provided Wilner relief, and treated the amended complaint as her original complaint. Id. at *6, 929 So.2d at 350.

¶ 5. The Court of Appeals relied on its prior decision in King v. American RV Centers, Inc., 862 So.2d 558 (Miss. Ct.App.2003) to prevent Wilner from losing her day in court, using the following reasoning:

If Wilner had named the four new parties in a separate, original complaint and moved to consolidate the two cases, we would not have an issue with the statute of limitations, nor would there be an issue regarding relating back. Should she be denied the opportunity to proceed even though she filed suit against the new parties before the statute of limitations ran and had a summons and a complaint (although designated as an amended complaint) served on the new parties within the period of time required by Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure 4(h)? We think not.

In King v. American RV Centers, Inc., 862 So.2d 558 (Miss.Ct.App.2003), we...