Paulette Stenzel v. Best Buy Company Inc
Paulette Stenzel v. Best Buy Company Inc
Opinion
MEMORANDUM OPINION
**201 Plaintiff was injured after her new refrigerator began to spray water out of its water dispenser onto her kitchen floor, causing her to slip and fall. She filed a timely complaint alleging negligence, breach of contract, and breach of warranty against defendant Best Buy Co., Inc., which had sold and installed the refrigerator. Best Buy filed a notice of nonparty fault, identifying defendant-appellant Samsung Electronics America, Inc., as the refrigerator's manufacturer. Plaintiff added a claim against Samsung in an amended complaint, and Samsung moved for summary disposition, arguing that plaintiff's claim against it was untimely because plaintiff had not first moved to amend under MCL 600.2957(2) and therefore was not entitled to the relation-back privilege set forth **202 in that statute. The trial court granted Samsung's motion, but the Court of Appeals reversed.
We affirm the Court of Appeals for the reasons set forth in the concurring opinion,
Stenzel v. Best Buy Co., Inc.
,
In particular, the concurring opinion correctly concluded that the statute and the court rule "are capable of harmonious coexistence" and do not " 'irreconcilabl[y] conflict.' "
Stenzel
,
**203
(affording a party served with notice of identification of a nonparty at fault the right to amend a pleading to add that nonparty to the suit). Rather, "the statute and court rule at issue here are ... complementary."
Stenzel
,
are entirely consistent with regard to the central and controlling issue: a plaintiff's right to timely amend a complaint to add an identified nonparty at fault as a party. Read together, the two provisions permit a plaintiff to file a motion to amend, or not. Either way, the result is the same: the amendment must be permitted if it is timely. [ Id . at 289,906 N.W.2d 801 .]
Moreover, "the [Michigan] Supreme Court understood that a timely request to amend had to be granted."
Id
. Therefore, this Court "promulgated MCR 2.112(K)(4) 'to implement MCL 600.2957,' " not to supplant it.
Id
. at 288,
As a result, "[a] plaintiff may elect to amend the complaint [without filing a motion for leave to amend]. If the plaintiff so elects, the court shall grant the amendment."
Id
. Alternatively, "[i]f a plaintiff wishes to file a motion to add a nonparty," the plaintiff is permitted to do so under MCL 600.2957(2).
Stenzel
,
[t]here being no conflict between the statute and the court rule, we are bound to implement the remainder of MCL 600.2957(2), which provides that a "cause of action added under this subsection is not barred by a period of limitation unless the cause of action would have been barred by a period of limitation at the time of the filing of the original action."
Applying this statutory provision to the facts of the present case, it is clear that the cause of action asserted against defendant[ ] ... is timely because the claim against defendant[ ], had it been asserted in the original action, would have been timely. [ Bint ,274 Mich. App. at 238 ,732 N.W.2d 156 ( ZAHRA , P.J., concurring).]
Samsung disagrees, contending that the relation-back privilege in MCL 600.2957(2) is contingent upon a party filing a motion for leave to amend "under this subsection." However, we are in agreement with the concurring opinion that, because "the statute and court rule ... are ... complementary," "[t]he statute fills in for the court rules' silence on [the] subject" of "relation back."
Stenzel
,
We affirm the Court of Appeals and remand to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
McCormack, C.J., and Markman, Zahra, Viviano, Bernstein, and Clement, JJ., concurred.
Cavanagh, J., did not participate due to her prior relationship with Garan Lucow Miller, PC.
MCL 600.2957(2) provides:
Upon motion of a party within 91 days after identification of a nonparty, the court shall grant leave to the moving party to file and serve an amended pleading alleging 1 or more causes of action against that nonparty. A cause of action added under this subsection is not barred by a period of limitation unless the cause of action would have been barred by a period of limitation at the time of the filing of the original action.
MCR 2.112(K)(4) provides, in relevant part, that "a party served with a notice under this subrule may file an amended pleading stating a claim or claims against the nonparty within 91 days of service of the first notice identifying that nonparty."
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.