Opinion ID: 468217
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Claim Against YMC/USA

Text: 9 Res judicata clearly bars the present action against YMC/USA. Appellant concedes YMC/USA was a party in both cases and that judgment was rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction. A dismissal with prejudice operates as a judgment on the merits unless the court specifies otherwise. Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(b). See, e.g., Weissinger v. United States, 423 F.2d 795, 798 (5th Cir.1970). Appellant cannot avoid preclusion by grounding his second action on a different theory of liability. Claim preclusion extends not only to the precise legal theory presented in the previous litigation, but to all legal theories and claims arising out of the same 'operative nucleus of fact.'  Olmstead v. Amoco Oil Co., 725 F.2d 627, 632 (11th Cir.1984). Both actions arise from the same motorcycle accident and are merely different theories of liability for alleged defects in the motorcycle's design and/or manufacture. We therefore affirm the district court's judgment in favor of YMC/USA. 10