What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida
My wife is being sued for something involving a company that she owned 5 years ago. She was a contractor for the State of Florida, coordinating services for the disabled (she is also disabled, FWIW). In November, 2011 one of her clients got sick due to a mold infestation in their home. Part of my wife's responsibility was to visit the home once every 3 months to check on his environment, but it was very difficult to get in touch with the client to visit, so it had been longer than 3 months since she visited. She is now being sued along with the state agency for negligence.
The complaint specifically states that the plaintiff's health failed in November, 2011, so that would seem to me to constitute the discovery of damages with regards to the statute of limitations. My wife also received a long letter from the plaintiff in December, 2011, claiming that the reason for his injury and damage to his property was because of the mold infestation, and that it was the state's fault for not implementing an adequate visitation policy. Shortly thereafter she received an email from their attorney saying that all communication should go through him. There was no indication that she would be sued at that time. My wife lost her contract with the state a couple months later, and dissolved the business (LLC).
The lawsuit was filed against the state agency in July of 2015, but my wife and her company were not added to the lawsuit until August, 2016, after the agency claimed that it wasn't their responsibility, because my wife was not a state employee.
It would seem to me that the statute of limitations should be reason for dismissal of this case, since they clearly knew about the damage and the reason for the damage well before August, 2012, which would have been 4 years before she was brought into the case. We know it's really an attempted money grab orchestrated by the family of the plaintiff, as my wife saw the plaintiff shortly after his "health failure" and he seemed fine, and the family had been trying to find shady ways to get money from the state since they first started services, and that we have a strong case if it goes to trial, but would prefer to just get it over with as quickly as possible.
Is there anything else that would cause the statue of limitations to be extended? Would further medical issues suffered after the initial discovery extend the statute of limitations, even though they already had a lawyer involved? Or would the "relation back doctrine" apply because she was a contractor for the original party to the suit? Or is there an extension for disabled people in civil cases in Florida, as there is in criminal cases?
Thanks!
My wife is being sued for something involving a company that she owned 5 years ago. She was a contractor for the State of Florida, coordinating services for the disabled (she is also disabled, FWIW). In November, 2011 one of her clients got sick due to a mold infestation in their home. Part of my wife's responsibility was to visit the home once every 3 months to check on his environment, but it was very difficult to get in touch with the client to visit, so it had been longer than 3 months since she visited. She is now being sued along with the state agency for negligence.
The complaint specifically states that the plaintiff's health failed in November, 2011, so that would seem to me to constitute the discovery of damages with regards to the statute of limitations. My wife also received a long letter from the plaintiff in December, 2011, claiming that the reason for his injury and damage to his property was because of the mold infestation, and that it was the state's fault for not implementing an adequate visitation policy. Shortly thereafter she received an email from their attorney saying that all communication should go through him. There was no indication that she would be sued at that time. My wife lost her contract with the state a couple months later, and dissolved the business (LLC).
The lawsuit was filed against the state agency in July of 2015, but my wife and her company were not added to the lawsuit until August, 2016, after the agency claimed that it wasn't their responsibility, because my wife was not a state employee.
It would seem to me that the statute of limitations should be reason for dismissal of this case, since they clearly knew about the damage and the reason for the damage well before August, 2012, which would have been 4 years before she was brought into the case. We know it's really an attempted money grab orchestrated by the family of the plaintiff, as my wife saw the plaintiff shortly after his "health failure" and he seemed fine, and the family had been trying to find shady ways to get money from the state since they first started services, and that we have a strong case if it goes to trial, but would prefer to just get it over with as quickly as possible.
Is there anything else that would cause the statue of limitations to be extended? Would further medical issues suffered after the initial discovery extend the statute of limitations, even though they already had a lawyer involved? Or would the "relation back doctrine" apply because she was a contractor for the original party to the suit? Or is there an extension for disabled people in civil cases in Florida, as there is in criminal cases?
Thanks!