Florence v. KrasuckiFlorence v. Krasucki
Currently before the court in this action are defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint as time-barred and the plaintiffs’ motion to strike the defendants’ fifth affirmative defense. These motions are based upon defendants’ contention that the applicable statute of limitations for plaintiffs’ complaint is the one-year provision for intentional torts of New York C.P.L.R. § 215.
Many of the facts are not disputed, and I will briefly set them forth. Plaintiffs are migrant farm workers and the infant child of one of the workers. Defendants are plaintiffs’ employer, Freer Fruit Farms, Inc. [the Farm], Frank Freer, and five New York State Police Officers. The migrant workers entered into a contract with defendant Freer, acting as agent for Freer Fruit Farms, pursuant to which they were employed to pick apples at the Farm. As partial consideration for their work, the plaintiffs were to receive housing on the premises of the Farm on property owned by Mr. Freer and leased by him to the corporate defendant. Plaintiffs allege that on or about October 17 or 18, 1978, their employment was abruptly terminated by defendant Freer, and they were ordered to vacate their living quarters immediately.
The gravamen of plaintiffs’ complaint is that although they were preparing to vacate the migrant workers’ living quarters, they were nevertheless forcibly and unlawfully evicted from the premises by defendant Freer with the assistance of the State defendants. It is plaintiffs’ contention that the defendants conspired to deprive them of equal protection of the law and did so deprive them by evicting them without regard to the procedural safeguards of the New York Real Property and Procedure Law [RPAPL]. Plaintiffs base their cause of action upon
Defendants have moved to dismiss all claims on the basis that they are barred by the one-year provision of C.P.L.R. § 215, which defendants contend is the applicable New York statute of limitations for civil rights actions. Defendants rely upon the cases of
Chapman
v.
Johnson,
In May of 1981, when the plaintiffs’ motion to strike the statute of limitations defense was filed, the law in this circuit was unsettled regarding the applicable statute of limitations. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit had indicated in a number of cases that the appropriate statute was New York C.P.L.R. § 214(2), the three-year provision to recover upon a liability created or imposed by statute, but had not finally resolved the issue.
See Singleton v. City of New York,
The issue was finally laid to rest in July of 1981 when the court issued its decision in
Pauk v. Board of Trustees of City University of N.Y.,
Despite this clear authority, the defendants nevertheless maintain that section 214(2) should not be applied to the plaintiffs’ claims herein because plaintiffs have not properly stated a cause of action under
In support of this argument, defendants Freer and Freer Fruit Farms rely upon the case of
Engblom v. Carey,
The
Engblom
plaintiffs were correctional officers at Mid-Orange Correctional Facility in the State of New York and resided in housing made available to employees of the facility. Plaintiffs participated in a statewide labor strike by corrections officers during April of 1979. Their complaint arose out of the actions of the Governor of the State of New York and the National Guard in occupying plaintiffs’ rooms during the strike. Plaintiffs claimed that these actions deprived them of property without due process of law and violated the provisions of the Third Amendment of the Constitution.
1
In dismissing the Third Amendment and
As in the instant ease, the plaintiffs in
Engblom
argued that the defendants’ failure to follow the procedures for summary eviction of the RPAPL is itself sufficient to give rise to a cause of action under
RPAPL § 713 provides:
A special proceeding may be maintained under this article after a ten-day notice to quit has been served upon the respondent in the manner prescribed in section 735, upon the following grounds: * * * * * *
11. The person in possession entered into possession as an incident to employment by petitioner, and the time agreed upon for such possession has expired or, if no such time was agreed upon, the employment has been terminated; no notice to quit shall be required in order to maintain the proceeding under this subdivision.
Thus, as Judge Sweet recognized, the tenant occupying premises as an incident to his or her employment is not devoid of procedural rights upon termination of the employment. Under the RPAPL, the owner-employer is required to follow the procedures for summary eviction outlined in the statute. The court in Engblom nevertheless held that these rights were “largely procedural, violation of which is not encompassed by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” and further held that the injuries sustained by the plaintiffs due to the defendants’ failure to follow these substantive provisions of the RPAPL were “not such as to establish a constitutional violation.” Id. at 68.
Judge Sweet’s decision, however, rested upon extraneous factors which are not present in the instant case. The court noted that the Engblom plaintiffs were “not tenants in ordinary apartments, or anything of the sort,” but were “employees of a very specialized institution who, in applying for *1050 and accepting on-grounds housing, must be charged with knowledge of the risks and the possible limitations on their ‘rights’ involved.” Id. at 68. Most importantly, the court found that the plaintiffs had not terminated their employment in such a way that they would be entitled to the safeguards of the RPAPL; Judge Sweet held that they had not been evicted from the premises but instead “voluntarily relinquished” their interests in the premises temporarily for the duration of the strike.
None of these factors which mitigate in favor of the defendants’ position is present in this case. In general, it is well established that a deprivation of procedural due process rights may be the basis of a claim under
There remains a separate question of whether the plaintiffs’ pendent state law claims are time-barred. These claims fall into two categories for the purposes of this motion. The first is the claim for forcible entry and detainer under RPAPL § 853. The second category includes those claims arising under RPAPL, Article 7, and the charge of conspiracy to violate Article 7. While neither of these sections contains a reference to a specific limitations period, New York courts have held that the one-year statute of C.P.L.R. § 215 is applicable to actions brought under section 853. Chapman v. Johnson, supra.
Plaintiffs’ original complaint was filed on October 18, 1979, one day before the expiration of the statutory period. It was served upon defendants Krasucki on November 16, 1979, and Freer on December 4, 1979. The defendant Farm’s existence and the identity of the state defendants were not known at that time, and they were not served until a later date. 2
Although the filing of the complaint tolls the statute of limitations in a federal case, we must look to the law of the forum state to determine tolling provisions for claims where jurisdiction is based upon diversity of citizenship.
Walker v. Armco Steel Corp.,
Under New York C.P.L.R. § 304, an action is commenced by service of the summons. C.P.L.R. § 203(b)(5), however, contains an extension period which tolls the statute for 60 days upon an appropriate filing with the County Sheriff or Clerk of the Court if the action: is brought in New York County. Traditionally, filing with the Clerk of the District Court has been deemed the equivalent of filing with the Sheriff
*1051
and allows the plaintiff to take advantage of section 203(b)(5).
See Somas v. Great American Insurance Company,
Plaintiffs argue that the remaining claims also are timely under the “relation back doctrine” of the
The court has been unable to locate any cases which deal with the precise issue of the impact of
Walker
upon
Defendants argue that the continued validity of these cases is doubtful in light of the United States Supreme Court ruling of Walker, supra. Defendants urge this court to disregard the established precedent and hold that the issue is governed solely by reference to Civil Practice Law and Rules.
The court does not read
Walker
so broadly as to require application of state procedural rules in every instance where the federal and state pleading rules conflict. The United States Supreme Court’s decision in
Walker
concerned itself with a narrow question of whether the filing of a complaint in federal court pursuant to
The issue presented in
Hanna
was whether service of process could be made in the manner set forth in
Erie and its offspring cast no doubt on the long-recognized power of Congress to prescribe housekeeping rules for federal courts even though some of those rules will inevitably differ from comparable state rules.... Thus, though a court, in measuring a Federal Rule against the *1052 standards contained in the Enabling Act and the Constitution, need not wholly blind itself to the degree to which the Rule makes the character and result of the federal litigation stray from the course it would follow in state courts, Sibbach v. Wilson & Co., [312 U.S. 1 , 13-14,61 S.Ct. 422 , 426,85 L.Ed. 479 ], it cannot be forgotten that the Erie rule, and the guidelines suggested in York, were created to serve another purpose altogether. To hold that a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure must cease to function whenever it alters the mode of enforcing state-created rights would be to disembowel either the Constitution’s grant of power over federal procedure or Congress’ attempt to exercise that power in the Enabling Act.Rule 4(d)(1) is valid and controls the instant case.
The
Hanna
court did not overrule but instead distinguished the earlier case of
Ragan
v.
Merchants Transfer and Warehouse Co., supra.
The issue in
Ragan
pitted state law, which made the date of service critical for purposes of commencing an action and tolling the statute of limitations, against
The Erie rule has never been invoked to void a Federal Rule. It is true that there have been cases where this Court has held applicable a state rule in the face of an argument that the situation was governed by one of the Federal Rules. But the holding of each such case was not that Erie commanded displacement of a Federal Rule by an inconsistent state rule, but rather that the scope of the Federal Rule was not as broad as the losing party urged, and therefore, there being no Federal Rule which covered the point in dispute, Erie commanded the enforcement of state law.
The facts
of
the instant case, however, are readily distinguishable from
Ragan
and
Walker
and involve application of
[U]sing the federal rule maintains the uniformity of practice in the federal courts and furthers the goal of deciding cases on their merits, rather than on the basis of procedural errors or the technical expiration of the applicable limitations period. . . .
Conversely, the application of the federal rule would detract little from state interests. State statutes of limitation are intended to protect against the necessity of defending lawsuits based on stale disputes by requiring notice of the claim within a prescribed period. Since an amendment will not relate back underRule 15(c) unless the original pleading has given fair notice to the adverse party of the conduct, transaction, or occurrence called into question by the new pleading, the objectives of the state limitation provision are protected even though the federal rule on relation, back, which would mean a federal standard of notice, is applied. Moreover, the need to have a pleading amendment relate back is rarely perceived before the action is instituted so that a more liberal federal rule on the subject is unlikely to affect plaintiff’s *1053 choice of forum. Consequently, one of the basic policies of the Erie-Guaranty doctrine — discouraging forum shopping— would not be violated by resort toRule 15(c) .
On the basis of the foregoing, the court finds that
the party to be brought in by amendment (1) has received such notice of the institution of the action that he will not be prejudiced in maintaining his defense on the merits, and (2) knew or should have known that, but for a mistake concerning the identity of the proper party, the action would have been brought against him.
Ultimately, the question to be determined by the court is whether the defendants knew of the pendency of the action and had an opportunity to defend in the action.
With respect to the corporate defendant, the question must be answered in the affirmative. Defendant Freer is the president of Freer Fruit Farms, Inc., and is a member of its Board of Directors. Plaintiffs have alleged that they were unaware of the existence of a corporation. Plaintiffs’ employment contracts were made with Frank Freer and were terminated by him. Defendant Freer, as shown above, was timely served and vigorously defended his action from the time of its commencement. In view of the interrelationship between defendant Freer and the corporation, it cannot be said that the corporation would be unduly prejudiced if required to defend against the claims asserted.
See Swartz v. Gold Dust Casino, Inc.,
This issue is not as clear with respect to the individual defendants. While the Advisory Committee notes to
On the basis of this last factor, the court finds that the individual defendants have received the notice required by
Especially significant is the fact that the attorney for the original defendants is an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Minneapolis who has represented all the defendants from the institution of the action until the present time.... Thus there existed a situation where a city attorney represented the original defendants on the police force and where the original complaint contained a clearly expressed intent to add individual police officers as defendants as soon as they could be identified. Under those circumstances it is inconceivable that the additional defendants have been prejudiced in their defense or that they had no reason to believe that suit might be brought against them.
Id. at 942 (emphasis added).
Because the court finds that these individuals have received adequate notice pursuant to
Accordingly, the plaintiffs’ motion to strike the statute of limitations defense is granted, and defendants’ cross motion for summary judgment is hereby denied.
So ordered.
Notes
. The Third Amendment to the United States Constitution states:
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
. Chronology of service upon defendants:
Defendant Date
Freer Fruit Farms, Inc. August 27, 1980
Law April 17, 1981
Defendant Date
Moore and Gonzales April 20, 1981
Yurio April 24, 1981
. Although it is the court’s decision that the issue of relation back is governed by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, application of the relevant provisions of the C.P.L.R. would likely produce the same result.
Under C.P.L.R. § 305(a), a party may petition the court to amend the summons to include an additional party. When the statute of limitations has expired as against the party the plaintiffs seek to add, the plaintiffs must persuade the court that the new party will not be prejudiced in any way by the amendment and that the original defendant named in the summons was a person who was authorized by law to be served on behalf of the intended defendants.
See Luce
v.
Pierce Muffler Shops,
The second provision of the C.P.L.R. which is applicable to this case is C.P.L.R. § 1024. Pursuant to section 1024, a fictitious or incomplete name may be used to designate an unknown defendant. The statute further provides that when the parties’ identity is discovered, the pleadings may be amended
nunc pro tunc
to reflect the correct names of the parties. This section is designed for use in precisely this type of situation; namely, where the plaintiff has a viable cause of action and cannot determine the defendant’s identity despite reasonably diligent effort.
See Orchard Park Central Schools v. Orchard Park Teachers,
50 App.Div.2d 462,
A crucial element for use of section 1024 is that “the defendant be named or described in such a form as will probably identify the defendant and give notice of opportunity to defend.”
See City of Mount Vernon v. Best Development Co.,