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Greczyn v. Colgate-Palmolive3/21/2005
imit th greatly increased exposure," Rosenberg, supra, 61 N.J. at 194, and to "prevent 'liability for life' against contractors and architects." Russo Farms, Inc. v. Vineland Board of Education, 144 N.J. 84, 117 (1996).
IV.
The fictitious-party practice rule provides:
In any action, irrespective of the amount in controversy, other than an action governed by R. 4:4-5 (affecting specific property or a res), if the defendant's true name is unknown to the plaintiff, process may issue against the defendant under a fictitious name, stating it to be fictitious and adding an appropriate description sufficient for identification. Plaintiff shall on motion, prior to judgment, amend the complaint to state defendant's true name, such motion to be accompanied by an affidavit stating the manner in which that information was obtained. If, however, defendant acknowledges his or her true name by written appearance or orally in open court, the complaint may be amended without notice and affidavit. No final judgment shall be entered against a person designated by a fictitious name.
[R. 4:26-4.]
The purpose of the rule is to render timely the complaint filed by a diligent plaintiff, who is aware of a cause of action against an identified defendant but does not know the defendant's name. Gallagher v. Burdette-Tomlin Hosp., 318 N.J. Super. 485, 492 (App. Div. 1999), aff'd, 163 N.J. 38 (2000). Judge Pressler's comment to the rule explains what it is not intended to cover:
It does not apply if the plaintiff has properly designated some defendants by fictitious names and then later discovers a cause of action against undescribed defendants whom he then seeks to join. Id.
Nor is the rule applicable where a plaintiff is unaware that an injury was caused by an identifiable defendant. See Caravaggio v. D'Agostini, 166 N.J. 237, 244 n.1 (2001). Moreover, the rule will not protect a plaintiff who had ample time to discover the unknown defendant's identity before the running of the statute of limitations. See Matynska v. Fried, 175 N.J. 51, 53 (2002). [Pressler, Current N.J. Court Rules, Comment on R. 4:26-4 (2005).]
Put another way, for the rule to operate, a specific claim must be filed against a described, though unnamed party, within the statute of limitations and plaintiff must diligently seek to identify the fictitiously-named defendant. That is the backdrop for our inquiry.
V.
Greczyn's fundamental argument is that this case is a perfect paradigm for invocation of the fictitious-party practice rule in that she sustained an injury and filed suit identifying Kling Lindquist, although not by name -- within the ten year repose period. Kling Lindquist counters that the plain language of N.J.S.A. 2A:14-1.1 prohibits any action against a "person" after ten years and that although Greczyn filed suit inside that window, it was not against a "person" within the meaning of the statute. That particular plain language argument is unpersuasive because an entirely different interpretation of the statute is plausible. Despite not being called by name, Greczyn's complaint fully identified "persons" by function: those John Does who "designed a certain interior staircase" at the Colgate-Palmolive office complex in Piscataway. In other words, though claiming against as yet "unnamable" persons, Greczyn's action was brought against "persons" nonetheless. Therefore, the plain language of the statute is not dispositive of the issue presented here.
VI.
We thus look beyond the words of the statute for enlightenment. As we have said, the legislative history, ordinarily a source of information, is not of
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