Christopher v. Duffy
Massachusetts Appeals Court
28 Mass. App. Ct. 780 (1990)
After her daughter died from complications related to lead poisoning allegedly worsened by contractor Duffy's (defendant) lead-removal work, Christopher (plaintiff) sued the apartment owners, former owner, and Duffy; after settling with the owners, Christopher sought to amend her complaint, dropping the settled defendants and adding several lead manufacturers and a trade association as new defendants roughly six years after the underlying events. The judge denied the amendment, finding the delay would prejudice the new defendants' ability to gather evidence and locate witnesses, and Christopher's subsequent appeals were denied.
Whether a court may deny a plaintiff's motion to amend her complaint to add new defendants when the significant delay in bringing them into the case would prejudice their ability to mount a defense.