Brenda Downing v. Lawrence Hall Nursing Center, Lawrence Memorial Hospital, and St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co.

Summary

The court reversed and remanded both challenged rulings. It held that the defendants could not obtain dismissal based merely on admissions that they were nonprofit or governmental entities because charitable immunity is an affirmative defense that must be specifically pleaded and proved. It also held that the amended complaint naming the insurer related back because the plaintiff's failure to name the insurer resulted from a mistake about the proper defendant caused by intervening changes in charitable-immunity law. The opinion contains no separate opinions.