Ruling on Relation Back Issue in Wal-Mart Employees' Carbon Monoxide Exposure Action

In Asher v. Unarco Material Handling, Inc., No. 09-5158, the Sixth Circuit faced a challenge to the district court's dismissal of a suit, brought by a second group of past and present Wal-Mart employees', claiming  injuries caused by exposure to carbon monoxide gas in an enclosed freezer section of Wal-Mart Distribution Center. 

As stated in the decision: "[I]n urging Rule 15(c)'s applicability to their claims, the new plaintiffs concede significant ground.  They acknowledge that this court has on several occasions made blanket statements to the effect that amendments which add a party to the original suit cannot relate back for limitation purposes."

Thus, in upholding the district court's dismissal, the court concluded that the new plaintiffs have cited no authority permitting relation back to the filing date of the original plaintiffs' claims and that the district court did not err in holding that Kentucky's "discovery rule" did not apply to toll the statute of limitations.

Related Resource

• Full text of Asher v. Unarco Material Handling, Inc