In Tirado v. Elrac Inc. , Miguel Tirado sued Elrac and U-Haul Inc. (UHI) for injuries sustained in a car accident. (Tirado was a passenger in a car owned by Elrac and hit by a U-Haul truck.)
Claiming it was "vicariously liable" for the accident, Tirado sued UHI believing it was the truck's owner. However, the vehicle was actually owned by U-Haul Co. of Arizona (UHAZ). And to complicate things just a bit, some 12 days after his suit was filed, Congress enacted the "Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act," also known as the "Graves Amendment," which prohibits claims against vehicle lessors for injuries stemming from the negligent operation of leased vehicles.
U-Haul Co. of New York (UHNY) filed an answer on UHI's behalf, believing it was the intended defendant and later moved to dismiss the case since UHAZ was the truck's owner and UHI was an inactive corporation which hadn't been in operation at the time of the accident. UHNY also argued that Tirado couldn't add UHAZ to the case due to the "Graves Amendment."
Tirado cross-moved and argued that under a New York law -- CPLR 203(a) -- an amendment of a pleading "relates back" to the suit's filing date which, in this instance, preceded the federal statute's passage and effective date.
After the Bronx County Supreme Court refused to allow Tirado to amend the complaint and dismissed the matter, he appealed to the Appellate Division, First Department.
Citing Jones v. Bill, a case wherein the New York State Court of Appeals found "[n]othing in the language of the Graves Amendment suggests that it bars vicarious claims asserted in an amended pleading in an action commenced prior to its effective date," the AD1 reversed.
Since Tirado filed suit against UHI 12 days before the federal law came into existence, his dispute was "removed from the [statute's] pre-emptive reach."
In other words, far from Graves, Tirado's case got a new lease on life.
To download a copy of the Appellate Division's decision, please use this link: Tirado v. Elrac Inc.
To view our prior post on this topic, please use this link: HOW GRAVES WAS IT?