{"id":904222,"date":"2025-04-15T15:51:38","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T21:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=904222"},"modified":"2025-04-15T15:51:44","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T21:51:44","slug":"timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio Ruling Highlights Timing Importance for Naming Defendants in Injury Claims"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Daniel Matusicky | <a href=\"https:\/\/kjk.com\/2025\/04\/09\/ohio-ruling-highlights-timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Kohrman Jackson &amp; Krantz<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An recent Ohio appellate court decision reinforces a critical point for plaintiffs and a crucial defense strategy for defendants: if you don\u2019t properly and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/deadlines-in-construction-litigation\/\">timely name individual employees\/agents in a lawsuit<\/a>, you may lose your claim against their employer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Case Overview<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>In\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.ohio.gov\/rod\/docs\/pdf\/2\/2024\/2024-Ohio-5507.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Badra-Muniz v. Vinyl Carpet Serv. Inc<\/a>.<\/em>, an employee of a general contractor sued a subcontractor alleging that he sustained injuries after slipping on a glue and cleaning solution applied by the subcontractor\u2019s agent. Following the application of the chemical solution, the subcontractor\u2019s agent left the area unattended. Plaintiff entered the room and slipped on the solution, sustaining severe injuries to his left knee that required two surgeries and extensive physical therapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the initial Complaint, the plaintiff failed to personally name the subcontractor\u2019s agent who applied the solution. Rather, he asserted claims against his employer, the subcontractor, and a \u201cJohn Doe . . employee or agent.\u201d Including unnamed entities and individuals, employing the \u201cJohn Doe\u201d placeholder is a common litigation practice, often employed to preserve potential claims against unknown actors who may be liable to Plaintiff for damages. As explained further below, the&nbsp;<em>Badra-Muniz&nbsp;<\/em>decision emphasizes the need to specifically name any potential defendants in a timely manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dismissal of Claims<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The Parties engaged in discovery for approximately one year, including taking the deposition of the subcontractor\u2019s agent. Following discovery, the subcontractor filed a motion for summary judgment. While the motion for summary judgment was pending, Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint, which was not served upon the employee until after the expiration of the application statute of limitations. The subcontractor\u2019s agent filed a Motion to Dismiss on the grounds that the claims against him were time-barred. The trial court granted the motion, dismissing the claims against the subcontractor\u2019s agent. Plaintiff did not appeal the dismissal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The subcontractor then filed supplemental briefing on its motion for summary judgment arguing that the claims against it should be dismissed. Relying on the Ohio Supreme Court\u2019s ruling in\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/law.justia.com\/cases\/ohio\/second-district-court-of-appeals\/2020\/28632.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Clawson v. Hts. Chiropractic Physicians, LLC<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>the trial court held that because the claims against the agent were time-barred, the subcontractor could not be held vicariously liable for the acts of its agent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Appellate Court Decision<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>On appeal, the plaintiff argued that vicarious liability claims should still proceed against the employer. The Second District Court of Appeals disagreed, extending the Ohio Supreme Court\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Clawson<\/em>&nbsp;decision beyond professional negligence cases and making it clear: if an employee isn\u2019t properly named in time, the employer can\u2019t be held liable either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Takeaways<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>While Ohio\u2019s legislature attempted to address this issue with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislature.ohio.gov\/legislation\/135\/hb179\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">House Bill 179<\/a>, its protections don\u2019t apply retroactively. That means businesses and individuals facing vicarious liability claims\u2014or those pursuing them\u2014must act strategically and timely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes &#8211; please call Advise &amp; Consult, Inc. at 888.684.8305, or email <a href=\"mailto:experts@adviseandconsult.net\">experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Daniel Matusicky | Kohrman Jackson &amp; Krantz An recent Ohio appellate court decision reinforces a critical point for plaintiffs and a crucial defense strategy for defendants: if you don\u2019t properly and timely name individual employees\/agents in a lawsuit, you may lose your claim against their employer. Case Overview In\u00a0Badra-Muniz v. Vinyl Carpet Serv. Inc., an&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Ohio Ruling Highlights Timing Importance for Naming Defendants in Injury Claims<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[172,10721,8782],"tags":[9895,27,9120,11650],"class_list":["post-904222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-law-2","category-insurance","category-personal-injury","tag-advise-consult","tag-construction-law","tag-ohio","tag-personal-injury-claim","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ohio Ruling Highlights Timing Importance for Naming Defendants in Injury Claims - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"if you don\u2019t properly and timely name individual employees\/agents in a lawsuit, you may lose your claim against their employer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ohio Ruling Highlights Timing Importance for Naming Defendants in Injury Claims - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"if you don\u2019t properly and timely name individual employees\/agents in a lawsuit, you may lose your claim against their employer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-15T21:51:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-15T21:51:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"Ohio Ruling Highlights Timing Importance for Naming Defendants in Injury Claims\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-15T21:51:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-15T21:51:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/\"},\"wordCount\":519,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Advise &amp; Consult\",\"construction law\",\"Ohio\",\"Personal Injury Claim\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Construction Law\",\"Insurance\",\"Personal Injury\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/\",\"name\":\"Ohio Ruling Highlights Timing Importance for Naming Defendants in Injury Claims - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-15T21:51:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-15T21:51:44+00:00\",\"description\":\"if you don\u2019t properly and timely name individual employees\/agents in a lawsuit, you may lose your claim against their employer\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"description\":\"Construction Expert Witnesses\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"width\":162,\"height\":75,\"caption\":\"Advise & Consult\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ohio Ruling Highlights Timing Importance for Naming Defendants in Injury Claims - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"if you don\u2019t properly and timely name individual employees\/agents in a lawsuit, you may lose your claim against their employer","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ohio Ruling Highlights Timing Importance for Naming Defendants in Injury Claims - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","og_description":"if you don\u2019t properly and timely name individual employees\/agents in a lawsuit, you may lose your claim against their employer","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/","og_site_name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","article_published_time":"2025-04-15T21:51:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-15T21:51:44+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@adviseconsult","twitter_site":"@adviseconsult","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7"},"headline":"Ohio Ruling Highlights Timing Importance for Naming Defendants in Injury Claims","datePublished":"2025-04-15T21:51:38+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-15T21:51:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/"},"wordCount":519,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Advise &amp; Consult","construction law","Ohio","Personal Injury Claim"],"articleSection":["Construction Law","Insurance","Personal Injury"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/","name":"Ohio Ruling Highlights Timing Importance for Naming Defendants in Injury Claims - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-04-15T21:51:38+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-15T21:51:44+00:00","description":"if you don\u2019t properly and timely name individual employees\/agents in a lawsuit, you may lose your claim against their employer","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/timing-importance-for-naming-defendants-in-injury-claims\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"Construction Expert Witnesses","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Advise & Consult","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","width":162,"height":75,"caption":"Advise & Consult"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ztG6-3Nee","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=904222"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":904223,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904222\/revisions\/904223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=904222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=904222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}