FI L ED U.S. COURT OF A P P E A LS E LE V E N T H C IR C U IT DEC 07, 2007 THOMAS K. KAH

N CL ERK [DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UN ITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FO R T HE EL EV EN TH CIRC UI T

N o. 07- 1161 7
D. C. Dock et No. 0 6- 60 96 1 C V-PAS W ALTER W EISENBERG, Pl ai nti ff -Appe llant,
ve rs us COSTA CROCI ERE S.P.A., De fendant-Appellee.

Appeal f rom the United State s District Court fo r the S outhe rnD istri ct

of F lor ida (D ec em be r 7, 200 7) Before DU BIN A and KRA VI TC H, Circuit Judges, and GO LD BE RG*, Judge. PE R CU RIA M:

____ ____ ____ ____ ___ *Honora ble Richard W. Goldber g , United States Court of International Trade J udg e, sitting by desig nation.The motion to dismiss was actua lly filed in the alternative as a motion fors u mmary 1 judgme nt. The district c ourt permitted the parties to submit matters in suppor t of and in opposition to the motion. After full brief ing, the court e ntere d its order grantingthe motion.

2 Ap p el l an tWal t erWei s en b er g (“W ei s en b er g ”) ap p ea l s t h e d i s t ri ct co u rt ’s
or de r gr an tin g a

ppe lle e’ s, Co sta

Cr oc ie re , S
. P. A
. ( “ Co sta ”) , m oti on t o di sm iss 1 W ei se nbe rg ’ s c om

pla int a s ti m e- ba rr ed
. W ei se nbe rg sus ta ine d a n in j ur y on D ec em be r 17, 200 3, w hil e tr av el ing aboard the pa sse nge r ve sse l C ost a Mediterania. T he issues presented on appeal ar e: (1) w hether the district court
erre d in ruling that the statute of lim itations on W eisenberg’ s federa l action was not tol le d du ri ng the pe nde nc y of W ei se nbe rg ’ s a ct ionin Fl or ida sta te c ourt; an d (2 ) w he the r the dis tr ic t c ourt e rr ed in fi ndi ng tha t C ost a w as not e qui ta bly
es top pe d f

ro m r el y ing on the c ontra ct

ua l pe ri od o f lim ita tio ns. W e rev ie w de novo the dis tr ic t c ourt’ s gr an t of am oti on t o di sm iss , or

in the al te rn at iv e, m ot io n fo r su m m ary jud gm en t. D oe v . P ry or , 344 F
. 3d 1 282, 128 4 (1 1t h C ir. 2 00 3)
. Se e D ae wo o M oto r A m er ic a, I

nc . v . G en er al M

oto rs C orp. , 459 F.3 d 1 24 9, 1 25 6 (1 1t h C ir. 2 00 6) , cert. denied , 12 7 S . Ct. 2 03 2 (2 00 7)
. E ve n if w e as sum e ar gue ndo tha t the dis tr ic t c ourt e rr ed in re ly ing on Levic k
v. Ste ine r T

rans oc ea n, L td. , 377 F. Supp. 2d 1251 (S. D. Fla. 2005 ), in finding that W eisenberg’ s state court action did no t toll the lim itations period for his federa l action, it w ould m ake no differe nce in our dispo sition of this case.3

T he r ec or d c le ar ly

de m onstra te s th at

W ei se nbe rg did

not dil ige ntl y

pur sue his a ct ionsuc h th at

e qui ta ble tol lin g sh oul d a

ppl y . T he dis tr ic t c ourt c or re ct ly recognized that W eisenberg knew that under the term s of the contract w ith Costa, he ha d to f

ile his c om

pla int in fe de ra l c ourt. I n f

ac t, he did

f ile in fe de ra l c ourt, but when he failed to serve his com plaint within 1 20 day s, the district court dis m iss ed the c as e. A s th e dis tr ic t c ourt a cknow le dge d, a t tha t po int , adil ige nt pl ai nt iff wou ld ha ve imm ed ia te ly sou gh t re li ef o r imm ed ia te ly refil edth e cas e. Be ca use W ei se nbe rg sti ll ha d f ive w ee ks r em ai nin g onthe one y ear sta tut e of li m it at io ns at t he ti m e o f di sm is sa l, ei th er ac t wo ul d h av e p ro te ct edhi s ri gh ts
. In ste ad , W ei se nbe rg w ai te d 36 4 day s to se ek r el ie f fr om

the or de r dis m iss ing his case, which does not const itute due dil igence. Furtherm ore, we conclude from the rec ord that the dist rict court did not err in findin g that Costa was not equitablyestopped from rely ing on the contractual l i m i t at i o n p er i o ddu e t o an al l eg ed ag re emen tb et we en Wei s en b er g an dCo s t a’s cl ai m s a dm ini str at or . T he re is sim ply nothin g in

the r ec or d to sup port this contentio n. A ccordingly , f or the above-stated reasons, w e af firm the district
co urt’ s j udgm en t of

dis m iss al
. AFFIRMED.