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Fieldcrest Cannon Inc. v. Fireman''s Fund Insurance Co.11/5/1996
hin shorter or longer time as the court may allow . . . .
(b) Effect of admission. . . Any admission made by a party under this rule is for the purpose of pending action only and is not an admission by him for any other purpose nor may it be used against him in any other proceeding.
N.C. Gen. Stat. ยง 1A-1, Rule 36 (1990)(emphasis added). If a party fails to respond to Rule 36 requests for admissions within the thirty (30) day period prescribed by the Rule, the facts in the requests are deemed admitted. Town of Chapel Hill v. Burchette, 100 N.C. App. 157, 394 S.E.2d 698 (1990); Whitley v. Coltrane, 65 N.C. App. 679, 309 S.E.2d 712 (1983). Further, when facts are admitted pursuant to Rule 36(b), these facts have been held to be sufficient to support a grant of summary judgment. Rhoads v. Bryant, 56 N.C. App. 635, 289 S.E.2d 637, disc. review denied, 306 N.C. 386, 294 S.E.2d 211 (1982). However, Rule 36(b) is clear in its mandate that admissions made in one action may not be used against the party who made them in any other proceeding outside of the one pending. See Tidwell v. Booker, 27 N.C. App. 435, 219 S.E.2d 648 (1975), rev'd on other grounds, 290 N.C. 98, 225 S.E.2d 816 (1976)(finding that Rule 36(c) of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure prevented the finding of paternity in a 1963 judgment to be admissible in a 1974 civil action as a judicial admission). See also Matter of Cassidy, 892 F.2d 637 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 812, 112 L. Ed. 2d 24 (1990)(finding that admissions obtained in tax court are not allowed in bankruptcy court under a Tax Court Rule, much like Rule 36(b)); Seay v. International Association of Machinists, 360 F. Supp. 123, 124 (C.D. Cal. 1973)(noting the importance of admissions in expediting trials, but also noting the limitation placed upon admissions being utilized in the pending action only under Rule 36 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure); Weis-Fricker Exp. & Imp. Corp. v. Hartford Acc. & I. Co., 143 F. Supp. 137 (N.D. Fla. 1956)(finding that admissions in Nicaragua "discovery action" were inadmissible in United States District Court).
In the instant case, plaintiff filed its complaint in 88CVS14786 on 5 December 1988. Defendants served their answer by April 1989, and the parties proceeded to engage in extensive discovery. In fact, on 26 April 1990, defendant Fireman's Fund served plaintiff with a request for admissions, which was never answered nor objected to. Subsequently, on 2 August 1990, plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the action (88CVS14786) pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1) of our Rules of Civil Procedure--admittedly, in great part to avoid the effect of any "deemed" admissions to defendant Fireman's Fund's request for admissions. Thereafter, on 12 April 1991, plaintiff instituted the instant action.
It is true, as defendant Fireman's Fund contends, that Rule 36 serves to reduce the amount of trial time needed to resolve oftentimes complicated matters. However, we recognize the necessity of construing Rule 36 to comport with the intent of our legislators. Rule 36 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure, like Federal Rule 36 (as amended in 1970), specifically limits the effect of a deemed admission. Moreover, our legislators, like the drafters of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, in promulgating section (b) of Rule 36, were cognizant of the necessity to weigh the equities in allowing deemed admissions which were products of an earlier action to be utilized in a later action. Therein, they recognized the need to sacrifice earlier-obtained, relevant evidence (e.g., deemed admissions) in later litigation, in order to resolve an action on the true merits. Particularly, we find most instructive that our legisl
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