Jesus Fierro, et al. v. Zachary Taylor Hammer, et al.

Summary

In this diversity action arising from a Tennessee automobile collision, the magistrate judge recommends granting defendants’ Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ negligence claims as untimely. Applying North Carolina choice-of-law principles and North Carolina General Statute § 1-21, the recommendation concludes that Tennessee’s one-year personal-injury statute of limitations applies because the claims arose in Tennessee and the plaintiffs were Texas residents when the claims accrued. The recommendation rejects the plaintiffs’ arguments based on contrary North Carolina Supreme Court and federal district court decisions.

Holdings

1. Dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) is appropriate when the face of the complaint clearly reveals that the statute of limitations has run and the claim is therefore barred.
2. Under North Carolina General Statute section 1-21, a claim arising outside North Carolina that is barred by the law of the jurisdiction where it arose is also barred in North Carolina, unless the claim originally accrued in favor of a North Carolina resident.
3. A federal court sitting in diversity must follow a state intermediate appellate court's decisions on state law unless persuasive data indicates that the state's highest court would decide differently.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the complaint could be dismissed under Rule 12(b)(6) based on the statute of limitations appearing on the face of the complaint.
2. Whether North Carolina General Statute section 1-21 requires application of Tennessee's one-year statute of limitations to Texas residents' personal-injury claims arising from a collision in Tennessee.
3. Whether the North Carolina Court of Appeals' established interpretation of section 1-21 was controlling or persuasive authority for the federal court sitting in diversity.

Disposition

other