The First Department determined that the “John Doe” defendant named in a timely filed complaint did not refer to the limited liability company named in the complaint filed after the statute of limitations had run:
The motion court properly dismissed the complaint on the ground that it was served after the statutory limitations period had expired. Plaintiff’s claims arose on January 14, 2008. The original complaint in this action, which was filed on January 6, 2014 (just days before the six-year statute of limitations expired), did not name Stack’s LLC as a defendant, nor did it name defendant Stack’s LLC (Delaware). The amended complaint, which for the first time named Stack’s LLC (Delaware) as a defendant, was not filed until January 24, 2014 — more than a week after the statute had run. Plaintiff cannot properly rely on CPLR 1024 as a shield from the statute of limitations. Even assuming that the appellation “John Doe” referred to a corporation rather than a natural person, the complaint’s description of the John Doe defendant was not described in such a way as to fairly apprise Stack’s LLC (Delaware) that it was an intended defendant … . Thus, the inadequate description rendered the action jurisdictionally defective … . Markov v Stack’s LLC (Delaware), 2018 NY Slip Op 03238, First Dept 5-3-18
CIVIL PROCEDURE (JOHN DOE NAMED IN TIMELY COMPLAINT DID NOT REFER TO THE LLC NAMED IN THE COMPLAINT FILED AFTER THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS HAD RUN, MOTION TO DISMISS PROPERLY GRANTED (FIRST DEPT))/CPLR 1024 (JOHN DOE NAMED IN TIMELY COMPLAINT DID NOT REFER TO THE LLC NAMED IN THE COMPLAINT FILED AFTER THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS HAD RUN, MOTION TO DISMISS PROPERLY GRANTED (FIRST DEPT))/JOHN DOE (COMPLAINTS, (JOHN DOE NAMED IN TIMELY COMPLAINT DID NOT REFER TO THE LLC NAMED IN THE COMPLAINT FILED AFTER THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS HAD RUN, MOTION TO DISMISS PROPERLY GRANTED (FIRST DEPT))/COMPLAINTS (JOHN DOE NAMED IN TIMELY COMPLAINT DID NOT REFER TO THE LLC NAMED IN THE COMPLAINT FILED AFTER THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS HAD RUN, MOTION TO DISMISS PROPERLY GRANTED (FIRST DEPT))