 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
District of Columbia v. Beretta4/21/2005
ty Act.
The Supreme Court's decision in Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41 (1957), quoted in the majority opinion at p.35, does not support the conclusion that the complaint in this case is sufficient to withstand a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under our local strict liability statute. Conley involved a class action discrimination complaint by railroad employees against their union. The issue was whether more factual details about the alleged discrimination was required to avoid dismissal for failure to state a claim. Id. at 47. The complaint alleged, among other things, how petitioners came to be discharged or demoted, and " espite repeated pleas by petitioners, the Union, acting according to plan, did nothing to protect them against these discriminatory discharges and refused to give them protection comparable to that given white employees"; that the Union failed to represent them in good faith; and, that the union's failure violated their rights under the Railway Labor Act to fair representation from their bargaining agent. Id. at 43. The defendant Union was identified clearly and placed on notice of the alleged acts or omissions forming the basis for the plaintiffs' claim of liability. Rejecting the argument that more specific facts were required to support the general allegations of discrimination, the Supreme Court held that the Federal Rules require only "'a short and plain statement of the claim' that will give the defendant fair notice of what the plaintiff's claim is and the grounds upon which it rests." Id. at 47 (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 8 (a)(2)). The pleading standard was met in Conley; it is not met here. In Conley, the Supreme Court simply held that the complaint adequately set forth a claim under Fed. R. Civ. 8; it did not relieve the plaintiffs of the obligation of identifying the defendant as a wrongdoer and placing it on notice of the claim against it. See Elmore, supra, 824 A.2d at 46 (citing Keranen v. National R.R. Passenger Corp., 743 A.2d 703, 713 (D.C. 2000)).
It is fundamental that a plaintiff must disclose sufficient information to put the defendant on notice of the claim against him. Keranen, supra, 743 A.2d at 713. The Act in question here imposes strict liability only for death or injuries resulting from the discharge of a particular kind of weapon, and then only when the link has been established between a specific manufacturer and the gun that caused the injury. D.C. Code ยง 7-2551.02. Plaintiffs have not alleged the requisite connection between the harm they sustained and any of the defendants in this case. Therefore, the complaint is deficient for failure to plead the predicate facts to make out the statutory cause of action. This court should not force a defendant into costly pre-trial discovery when there is no showing that plaintiff can make out a cause of action from the allegations in the complaint. Sutliff, supra, 727 F.2d at 654 (citations omitted). For these reasons, I respectfully dissent from Part V. B. of the majority opinion, and I would not reach the constitutional challenges to the Act addressed in Part V.
C. However, I join in Parts I through IV. A. of the opinion of the court.
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 District of Columbia Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|