DocketNumber: No. CV 940361530
Citation Numbers: 1996 Conn. Super. Ct. 8902, 18 Conn. L. Rptr. 139
Judges: McMAHON, JUDGE.
Filed Date: 11/5/1996
Status: Non-Precedential
Modified Date: 4/17/2021
On June 1, 1994, the plaintiff, Gloria McGinnis, filed a one count complaint alleging a cause of action in negligence against the defendant, Yale University. The plaintiff alleges that on May 30, 1992, she was walking through the interior of the Sterling Memorial Library when a library table collapsed and fell on the plaintiff causing her to receive various injuries.
On January 16, 1996, the plaintiff filed a request for leave to file an amended complaint alleging that the accident occurred in the Timothy Dwight College and not in the Sterling Memorial Library. The court permitted the plaintiff to file the amendment without prejudice to the defendant's right to raise the statute of limitations as a special defense to the amended complaint.McGinnis v. Yale University, Superior Court, judicial district of New Haven, Docket No. 361530 (March 4, 1996, Licari, J.). The plaintiff then amended her complaint again on February 5, 1996. The defendant filed an answer to this complaint and special defenses on April 2, 1996. By way of its second special defense, the defendant alleges that the plaintiff's amended complaint is CT Page 8903 barred by the two year statute of limitations contained in General Statutes §
On June 21, 1996, the defendant filed a motion for summary judgment on its second special defense. The defendant argues that the plaintiff's amended complaint alleges a new cause of action since the plaintiff changed the location of the accident from the Sterling Memorial Library to the Timothy Dwight College. According to the defendant, since the amended complaint alleges a new cause of action, the filing of this amended complaint does not relate back to the original complaint. Therefore, the defendant argues that the statute of limitations contained in §
On September 27, 1996, the plaintiff filed a memorandum of law in opposition to the defendant's motion for summary judgment. The plaintiff argues that her amended complaint does not allege a new cause of action and, therefore, the amended complaint relates back to the date when she filed the original complaint.
DISCUSSION
"Practice Book § 384 provides that summary judgment shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, affidavits and any other proof submitted show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Barrettv. Danbury Hospital,
"An amendment to a complaint relates back to the institution of the action for some purposes . . . but when it sets up a new and different cause of action it speaks as of the date when it is filed." (Citations omitted.) Kelsall v. Kelsall,
Connecticut's relation back "doctrine is akin to rule
In Conry v. Baltimore O.R. Co.,
The court stated that "[t]he original complaint gave notice to the defendant of the nature of the claim and, from the investigation made by the defendant, it was fully aware as to where the accident occurred." Id. The court concluded that "the amendment did not set forth a new or different cause of action, nor did it set forth any different state of facts than were presented in the original complaint which gave the defendant notice of all the relevant facts in the case." Id. Moreover, the court stated, "[w]here identity of the cause of action remains substantially the same, an amendment of a pleading will take effect by relation and thus relieve against the bar of an intervening limitation. . . . There was only one accident and the injuries which resulted therefrom, and the only change is the difference in details as to the place of infliction on the right CT Page 8905 of way of the defendant." Id., 849-50. Accordingly, the court found that the amendment related back to the filing of the original action. Id.
In Kelcey v. Tankers Company,
The court disagreed and stated, "[b]oth vessels were operated under contracts with the United States. The true facts as to the time and place of the assault were known to, or could reasonably have been ascertained by, the defendant, whereas the judge found that plaintiff had suffered from recurrent amnesia, which made it difficult for him to, remember the true facts. . . ." Id. The court concluded that the amendment related back to the original complaint. Id.
In Harastej v. Reliable Car Rental, Inc.,
The court, however, stated that "[t]he mere correction of a mistake in the complaint by amendment relating to facts as to time and place, do not set up a new claim for relief and, therefore, relate back to the date of the original complaint." Id. Therefore, the court permitted the amendment. Id., 199.
In the present case, the defendant relies on Sharp v.Mitchell,
The plaintiffs, in Sharp v. Mitchell, originally alleged that the defendants intentionally and/or negligently caused the death of the plaintiffs' decedents by ordering the decedents into an underground area without adequate ventilation. Sharp v. Mitchell, supra, 72-73. In the amended complaint, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendants were liable because they negligently designed the underground area. Id., 73. The court held that the amendment alleged a new cause of action and, therefore, it did not relate back to the original complaint. Id.
In Gallo v. G. Fox Co., the plaintiff filed a complaint alleging that the defendant negligently maintained, operated and controlled one of its escalators. Gallo v. G. Fox Co., supra, 331. The plaintiff then filed a substituted complaint alleging that her injuries were caused by "the negligence of the defendant in failing to remove from the floor a piece or pieces of candy and other foreign sticky substances. . . ." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Id. The court disallowed the amendment and dismissed the action for the plaintiff's failure to prosecute. Id. The plaintiff attempted to refile the suit under General Statutes §
In Patterson v. Szabo Food Services of New York, Inc., supra,
In Sharp v. Mitchell, Gallo v. G. Fox Co., and Patterson v.Szabo Food Service of New York, all of the plaintiffs originally alleged one set of facts and then alleged a totally new set of facts to establish liability. See Sharp v. Mitchell, supra,
The court denies defendant's Motion For Summary Judgment.
Kevin P. McMahon, Judge
Arthur A. Kelcey v. Tankers Company Incorporated, Defendant-... , 217 F.2d 541 ( 1954 )
Conry v. Baltimore & O. R. Co , 195 F.2d 120 ( 1952 )
Kelsall v. Kelsall , 139 Conn. 163 ( 1952 )
Giglio v. Connecticut Light & Power Co. , 180 Conn. 230 ( 1980 )