BRIAN K. EPPS, Magistrate Judge.
Plaintiff filed this action regarding her alleged mistreatment during her arrest and incarceration at Columbia County Detention Center. (Doc. no. 1-5.) In addition to the specifically identified Defendants, Plaintiff also named John Does 1-6 and Jane Does 1-6 as Defendants in her complaint. (
Plaintiff brought this action in Columbia County Superior Court on August 24, 2016, under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Georgia state law. (Doc. no. 1-5.) Plaintiff alleged she was denied medical treatment for her diabetes, which resulted in a seizure, was sprayed in the face with a delousing agent, and was exposed to male deputies and inmates while being showered during her arrest and subsequent incarceration at the Columbia County Detention Center. (
On November 9, 2016, Defendants Columbia County and Sherriff Whittle provided Plaintiff with the required disclosures under Fed. R. of Civ. P. 26 and documents Bates-stamped numbers Defendant 0001 through 0074. (Doc. no. 14-1, Ex. A.) These disclosures included an internal investigative report identifying Nurse Sturkey as the medical professional who treated Plaintiff and Deputy Jailer Dunne as the officer who required Plaintiff to take a shower and sprayed her with Liceall Shampoo. (Doc. no. 14-2, Ex. B.) These disclosures also included handwritten witness statements from Jennifer Sturkey, LPN and Miriam C. Dunne describing their interactions with Plaintiff. (Doc. no. 14-3, Ex. C.)
On November 18, 2016, Defendants responded to Plaintiff's First Interrogatories and identified Miriam C. Dunne and Nurse Jennifer Sturkey as witnesses. (Doc. no. 14-4, Ex. D, pp. 2-3.) Defendants further identified Nurse Sturkey as the person who "provided medical care to the plaintiff while the plaintiff was incarcerated at the Columbia County Detention Center." (
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Between the complaint filing and Plaintiff's deposition on March 28, 2017, Plaintiff discovered information indicating Gilbert Lopez, a male officer, assisted with the strip search of Plaintiff and physically touched her during the search. (
In the meantime, on November 10, 2016, the Court issued a scheduling order based on the parties' Rule 26(f) Report setting November 29, 2016 as the last day for filing motions to amend or add parties. (Doc. no. 8.) Although the parties have requested several extensions to complete discovery, (doc. nos. 9, 12), neither party ever requested nor has the Court ever granted an extension of the deadline for amendment.
On April 6, 2017, more than four months after the deadline for amendment, Plaintiff filed the instant motion seeking to amend her complaint and substitute Jennifer Sturkey and Miriam Dunne for Jane Does 1 and 2. (Doc. no. 11.) Defendants opposed the motion on the grounds Plaintiff has not shown the requisite "good cause" for amendment after a scheduling order deadline and any amendment would be futile because the statute of limitations has run. (
A plaintiff seeking to amend her complaint after a deadline set by a scheduling order must demonstrate good cause under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16(b).
Here, Plaintiff has not shown the requisite amount of diligence. Plaintiff filed her Motions to Substitute on April 6, 2017 and May 19, 2017 respectively, more than four months after the deadline set by this Court's Scheduling Order. She claims she was diligent because she filed them soon after "[t]he parties . . . completed the deposition of Plaintiff and Miriam Dunne on March 28, 2017" and "Mr. Lopez's deposition [on] May 16, 2017. . . ." (Doc. no. 11, p. 2; doc. no. 15, p. 2, n.1.) However, Plaintiff was informed by Defendants on November 9, 2016
Plaintiff asserts she should not be "required . . . to name every individual listed as a witness in initial disclosures before they were given the opportunity to investigate their relation to Plaintiff's claims." (Doc. no. 15, p. 3.) However, Plaintiff had ample opportunity to investigate and add Ms. Dunne and Ms. Sturkey after Defendants provided the identifying disclosures and interrogatory answers. Indeed, if Plaintiff needed more time to identify essential parties, she could have requested the Court extend the deadline to add parties, as the parties did for several other deadlines.
Furthermore, although it is uncertain exactly how or when Plaintiff obtained this information, Plaintiff on March 28, 2017 identified Mr. Lopez as the male officer who was present during her shower and strip search. Not only did Plaintiff wait nearly two months after this date to add Mr. Lopez, she also failed to include him in her first motion to substitute on April 6, 2017, well after she identified him in her deposition. Plaintiff's delay in seeking to add Ms. Sturkey, Ms. Dunner, and Mr. Lopez constitutes a lack of diligence, and precludes her attempt to avoid the Court's scheduling deadline.
Even if Plaintiff could show the good cause necessary to excuse her failure to comply with the Court's scheduling order, her amendment to substitute Ms. Sturkey, Ms. Dunne, and Mr. Lopez is futile. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(a), a party may amend a pleading more than twenty-one days after serving it "with the opposing party's written consent or the court's leave." Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). Courts should freely allow amendment.
Here, Plaintiff's amendment would be futile because the statute of limitations has run on her claims. It is "well-settled that § 1983 claims filed in Georgia are governed by the same two-year statute of limitations for personal-injury actions."
Generally, an amendment changing the name of a party relates back to the original pleading if the party "knew or should have known that the action would have been brought against it, but for a mistake concerning the proper party's identity." Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(c)(1)(C). However, "[a] plaintiff's amendment to identify parties previously designated as `John Doe' defendants in the complaint does not relate back to the filing of the original complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15 because the amendment is made to correct the plaintiff's lack of knowledge about whom to sue, not a mistake by the defendant in identifying the proper party."
Because merely changing the name of John and Jane Doe Defendants does not relate back to Plaintiff's original complaint, her claims against Ms. Stukey, Ms. Dunne, and Mr. Lopez fall outside the two-year statute of limitations that expired on September 12, 2016. Accordingly, these parties would be ripe for dismissal if added, and amendment by Plaintiff to add them is futile and should be denied.
For the reasons set forth above, the Court
SO ORDERED.