45 F. Supp. 3d 1351
M.D. Fla.2014Background
- These consolidated Engle-progeny cases involve plaintiffs who timely filed personal-injury suits while alive, then died more than two years before their personal representatives amended the complaints to assert wrongful-death claims.
- Defendants moved for summary judgment as to 91 cases, arguing wrongful-death claims are time barred because Florida’s 2-year wrongful-death statute runs from the date of death.
- Plaintiffs moved for leave to amend to add wrongful-death and alternative survival claims and argued relation-back or tolling saved the claims.
- The central legal question: whether a wrongful-death claim (filed by a personal representative after the decedent’s death) relates back to the original timely personal-injury complaint under Florida law.
- Court applied Florida law (Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.190(c)) governing relation back because state law supplies the statute of limitations, and assessed Florida Supreme Court and DCA precedent and policy favoring liberal amendment.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relation back: Do wrongful-death claims relate back to timely-filed personal-injury complaints? | The wrongful-death amendments arise from the same conduct/occurrence alleged in the original complaints and thus relate back under Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.190(c). | Wrongful death creates a new and distinct cause of action; an amendment asserting a new cause cannot relate back and is time barred. | Holds: relation back allowed. Wrongful-death claims relate to the original complaints because they arise from the same general factual situation and defendants had notice; summary judgment denied. |
| Survivorship (survival) claims: May plaintiffs add survival claims as alternatives? | Plaintiffs may plead alternative survival claims when death causation is disputed; survival claims are permitted alongside wrongful-death claims. | Defendants relied on earlier court order denying similar amendments when cases were originally filed post-mortem. | Holds: amendment to add survival claims granted as alternative pleading; without prejudice to fact-specific motions if cause of death is undisputed. |
| Equitable tolling of the 2-year wrongful-death limitations period due to court-wide Engle stay | The district-wide stay of Engle cases prevented assertion of amended claims, so limitations were equitably tolled. | The stay did not prevent counsel from monitoring clients and filing protective motions; equitable tolling is unavailable or inapplicable. | Holds: court adopts view that equitable tolling can apply in civil cases but declines to apply it here — plaintiffs were not sufficiently prevented from acting, so tolling is not warranted. |
| Case-management rule for death pre-/post-activation | Plaintiffs sought a workable rule to permit amendment after death without imposing onerous early filing obligations. | Defendants emphasized deadlines and prior orders. | Holds: If plaintiff dies before activation, amend by the activation-order deadline; if death occurs after activation, personal representative may be added and given a reasonable opportunity (court anticipates 60 days) to amend. |
Key Cases Cited
- Engle v. Liggett Group, Inc., 945 So.2d 1246 (Fla. 2006) (decertification of class but preclusive findings; genesis of Engle-progeny suits)
- Walker v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 734 F.3d 1278 (11th Cir. 2013) (background on Engle-progeny management)
- Caduceus Props., LLC v. Graney, 137 So.3d 987 (Fla. 2014) (adopts a "general facts" relation-back test under Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.190 and favors liberal amendment)
- Capone v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., 116 So.3d 363 (Fla. 2013) (Wrongful Death Act interpreted broadly; personal representative may be substituted and given leave to amend without dismissal)
- Toombs v. Alamo Rent-A-Car, Inc., 833 So.2d 109 (Fla. 2002) (Wrongful Death Act creates a statutory cause of action distinct from personal-injury action)
- Fabbiano v. Demings, 91 So.3d 893 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012) (rejects pre-modern cause-of-action test and applies the "general fact situation" rule for relation back)
- Starling v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 845 F.Supp.2d 1215 (M.D. Fla. 2011) (discusses equitable tolling and relation-back issues in Engle progeny; influential district-court treatment)