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Indiana Court of Appeals Throws out Plaintiff’s Suit for Missing Statute of Limitations
Pamela Webb was attending an event at the Monon Community Center in Carmel Indiana on June 20, 2014. Webb claims that as she was walking down the bleachers, the bottom step slid, which caused her to fall to the ground at the Carmel parks’ facility. After she sustained serious injuries, Webb filed a tort claim notice against the city, and sued the city of Carmel and the Indiana Parks and Recreation Association in May 2016.
About a month later, Carmel informed Webb that the parties named in her suit were not proper parties because neither owned nor maintained the community center. Those same documents were included in the city’s response filed in September 2016, and in November 2016, Carmel moved for summary judgment. Indiana Parks and Recreation Association was dismissed from the case. Shortly thereafter, at the end of 2016, Webb filed an amended complaint naming the proper defendants — Carmel Clay Parks Building Corporation and Carmel/Clay Board of Parks & Recreation.
Upon receiving the amended complaint, the defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing that the complaint was not filed within the statutory time limit. The trial court agreed and granted the Carmel defendants summary judgment.
Webb appealed to the Indiana Court of Appeals and the Appeals Court upheld the trial court’s decision to rule in favor of the defendants’ summary judgment request. The Appeals Court relied on Indiana Trial Rule 15(C) which stipulates that an amended complaint must be filed within 120 days of notice that the wrong parties were named in the original complaint. Webb failed to file the Amended Complaint until December 30, 2016 - 193 days after the statute of limitations had run.