Source: http://al.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.20180313_0000149.SAL.htm/qx
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 00:42:47+00:00

Document:
GEORGIA-PACIFIC LLC, et al., Defendants.
This matter comes before the Court on defendant Quality Plus Services, Inc.'s Motion to Dismiss (doc. 50). The Motion has been briefed, and is now ripe for disposition.
It is well-settled that “[a] Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal on statute of limitations grounds is appropriate if it is apparent from the face of the complaint that the claim is time-barred.” Gonsalvez v. Celebrity Cruises Inc., 750 F.3d 1195, 1197 (11th Cir. 2013) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted); see also Jacobs v. Estefan, 705 Fed.Appx. 829, 831 (11th Cir. Aug. 7, 2017) (same). In diversity actions such as this one, the Court must apply the statute of limitations fixed by state law. See, e.g., Mississippi Valley Title Ins. Co. v. Thompson, 802 F.3d 1248, 1251 n.2 (11th Cir. 2015) (“Pursuant to the Erie doctrine, a state's statutes of limitation are substantive in nature and must be applied in a suit based on diversity jurisdiction.”); Watkins v. Capital City Bank, 711 Fed.Appx. 591 (11th Cir. Feb. 15, 2018) (“[a] federal court sitting in diversity must apply the substantive law, including statutes of limitations, of the relevant state”). Under Alabama law, Wyatt's negligence, wantonness and strict liability claims against Quality Plus are all subject to a two-year limitations period. See Ala. Code § 6-2-38(l) (“All actions for any injury to the person or rights of another not arising from contract and not specifically enumerated in this section must be brought within two years.”). Also, in contrast to the accrual and tolling rules governing certain types of claims, “Alabama has no ‘discovery rule' with respect to negligence or wantonness actions that would toll the running of the limitations period.” Boyce v. Cassese, 941 So.2d 932, 946 n.2 (Ala. 2006); see also Singer Asset Finance Co. v. Connecticut General Life Ins. Co., 975 So.2d 375, 382 (Ala.Civ.App. 2007) (“The statute of limitations begins to run from the time the plaintiff's cause of action accrues, and there is no ‘discovery rule' for negligence claims that would toll the running of the statute of limitations from the time the cause of action was ‘discovered' by the plaintiff.”). The parties quarrel over none of these propositions.
On its face, Wyatt's Complaint reflects that the workplace accident and injuries animating this litigation occurred on June 10, 2015. Thus, Wyatt's claims against Quality Plus accrued - and Alabama's two-year statute of limitations began running - on that date. Yet Wyatt did not file an Amended Complaint adding Quality Plus as a defendant until November 10, 2017 (when he requested leave to amend) or November 27, 2017 (when leave to amend was granted). Thus, Wyatt first asserted his claims against Quality Plus some two years and five months after they accrued, which would appear to render them impermissibly tardy given the two-year limitations period fixed by Alabama Code § 6-2-38(l).
Notwithstanding these undisputed facts and legal principles, Wyatt maintains that his claims against Quality Plus are timely under the “relation back” doctrine. The applicable federal rule provides, “An amendment to a pleading relates back to the date of the original pleading when … the law that provides the applicable statute of limitations allows relation back.” Rule 15(c)(1)(A), Fed.R.Civ.P. In an en banc decision, the Eleventh Circuit expressly held that “Rule 15(c)(1) allows federal courts sitting in diversity to apply relation-back rules of state law where, as here, state law provides the statute of limitations for the action.” Saxton v. ACF Industries, Inc., 254 F.3d 959, 963 (11th Cir. 2001). As Saxton explains, “Rule 15(c)(1) specifically incorporates state principles of relation back into the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.” Id. at 965 n.10. Courts in this circuit have adhered to the Saxton holding by applying state-law relation-back principles in diversity cases, even where relation back would not otherwise be available under the federal rules.
Saxton, 254 F.3d at 965 (quoting Jones v. Resorcon, Inc., 604 So.2d 370, 372-73 (Ala. 1992)) (emphasis added); see also Ex parte VEL, LLC, 225 So.3d 591, 600 (Ala. 2016) (“under Rule 15(c)(4), Kyser's amendments substituting [named defendants] for fictitiously named defendants relate back to the date of the original complaint only if she satisfied the requirements of Rule 9(h)”). “Thus, under Alabama law, an amendment substituting an actual defendant for a fictitious defendant relates back when: (1) the original complaint adequately described the fictitious defendant; (2) the original complaint stated a claim against the fictitious defendant; (3) the plaintiff was ignorant of the true identity of the defendant; and (4) the plaintiff used due diligence to discover the defendant's true identity.” Saxton, 254 F.3d at 965 (citation omitted); see also Mann v. Darden, 630 F.Supp.2d 1305, 1313-14 (M.D. Ala. 2009) (same).

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