Lee v. Airgas - Mid South, Inc., No. 14-3081 (8th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseOn August 20, 2013, Lee, an Arkansas citizen, sued VTI and 10 John Does, alleging that while preparing for a welding project on August 21, 2010, he attached a newly purchased oxygen tank to his existing pressure regulator, manufactured by VTI. Lee “tried without success to adjust the regulator pressure” when “[s]uddenly, and without warning, the metal crimped end of the oxygen hose came loose from the metal handpiece, striking him in the right eye” and causing blindness in that eye. On December 18, 2013, Lee dismissed VTI and moved for leave to amend his complaint to substitute Airgas LLC and Airgas-Mid South (the alleged supplier of the tank) for two Doe defendants. The district court denied the motion, noting Lee failed to allege Airgas-Mid South’s principal place of business, the citizenship of Airgas LLC’s members, and the citizenship of any John Doe defendants. The order imposed a deadline by which Lee was to correct these errors. The district court permitted amendment as to Airgas Mid-South but ultimately dismissed. The Eighth Circuit affirmed, agreeing that Lee’s claims against Airgas Mid-South were time-barred and the district court lacked diversity jurisdiction over the claims against the John Does.
Court Description: Riley, Author, with Loken and Shepherd, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Products liability. District court did not err in finding the complaint was time-barred and that plaintiff's amended complaint did not relate back to the original complaint because the newly-named defendant did not have notice within 120 days after the complaint was filed; the complaint failed to state any claim against the John Doe defendants, and the court did not err in dismissing them.
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