Hedel-Ostrowski v. City of Spearfish
Supreme Court of South Dakota
679 N.W.2d 491 (2004)
Dawn Hedel-Ostrowski (plaintiff) was injured in 1999 when a park swing broke, and in 2002 she sued the City of Spearfish (City) (defendant), Miracle Recreation Company, Playpower, Inc., and Cameron Holdings Corp. for negligence. Later that year, she moved to amend her complaint to add a nuisance claim against the City and both negligence and nuisance claims against Keith Hepper, the head of the City's parks and recreation department. The City and Hepper moved for summary judgment, arguing all claims against Hepper, and the negligence claim against the City, were time-barred, and that the nuisance claim against the City failed to state a claim. The trial court granted summary judgment to both, and Hedel-Ostrowski appealed.
Whether an amended complaint adding a new defendant, filed after the statute of limitations would otherwise have run, relates back to the date of the original complaint when the plaintiff's failure to include that defendant earlier was not the result of a mistake about the defendant's identity or about who could properly be sued.