Opinion ID: 72878
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Complaint Served on LSSI's Hospital

Text: Plaintiff's Complaint names Lakeshore Rehabilitation Hospital as the sole Defendant. The Complaint was filed on December 21, 1995, and delivered by certified mail on January 4, 1996, to the Hospital's address at Lakeshore Rehabilitation Center, 3800 Ridgeway Drive, Homewood, Alabama.1 At this point, LSSI was leasing and operating the Defendant Hospital as LSSI's business. The Defendant Hospital's Answer, however, states that it is filed by Lakeshore Foundation, successor-in-interest to Jefferson Tuberculosis Sanatorium d/b/a/ Lakeshore Hospital. The record does not indicate how the Complaint got from the Defendant Hospital, operated by LSSI, to the Foundation, the prior operator. In any event, the Answer admits that the Defendant Hospital was Plaintiff's employer and is an entity subject to suit. Even though Plaintiff was requesting reinstatement at the Defendant Hospital, the Answer did not assert that Plaintiff had sued the wrong entity or failed to join an indispensable party. C. District Court Sua Sponte Dismisses Retaliation Claim As the first affirmative defense, the Defendant Hospital's April 26 Answer asserts that Plaintiff failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. No party as yet had filed a motion to dismiss. On May 6, however, the district court sua sponte dismissed Plaintiff's retaliation 1 The signature on the certified receipt is not clear but appears to be signed Anthony Davis. The record does not indicate for whom this person works. claim as not cognizable under section 1981.2 The case proceeded on the racial discrimination claim alone. D. Plaintiff's Motion to Amend Complaint to Add HealthSouth The parties filed a Report of Parties' Planning Meeting, in which the parties jointly agreed that Plaintiff(s) should be allowed until October 1, 1996 to join additional parties and to amend the pleadings. Adopting that agreement, the district court's scheduling order states as follows: Joinder of additional parties-Plaintiff(s) shall have until 10/01/96 to join additional parties. Defendants shall have until 11/01/96 to join additional parties. Although Plaintiff's Complaint was filed timely against the Defendant Hospital on December 21, 1995, the statute of limitations expired on February 14, 1996. On August 23, 1996, Plaintiff filed a Motion to Amend the Complaint to add HealthSouth as a defendant, which the district court immediately granted on August 29 in light of the scheduling order allowing such joinder. Defendant HealthSouth filed a verified Answer and a separate Motion to Dismiss based on, inter alia, the statute of limitations and Plaintiff's failure to join an indispensable party, namely LSSI. E. Plaintiff's Motion to Add LSSI As soon as HealthSouth's September 16 verified Answer revealed that LSSI was operating the Defendant Hospital, Plaintiff filed a September 30 Motion to Join LSSI as a defendant. Because this Motion also was filed before the court's deadline for adding parties, the district court's order found that the Motion to Add LSSI was timely filed. Regarding LSSI, the district court's order states, [a]s an initial matter this court must determine whether the applicable statute of limitations has expired, because if the statute has not expired then the motions to add additional defendants were 2 The clerk's docket sheet lists entry number 5 as an Answer and a Motion 12(b)(6); however, number 5 is only one pleading entitled an Answer, and no separate motion to dismiss is filed or referred to in that Answer. timely filed. Since HealthSouth was a party already and the court found that Plaintiff's Motion to Add LSSI was timely filed, the district court's order treated both HealthSouth and LSSI as added Defendants and proceeded to examine the sole issue of whether Plaintiff's claims against them were barred by the statute of limitations. Thus, we review whether Plaintiff's claims against HealthSouth and LSSI are barred by the statute of limitations.