DYANE CORBETT, Personal Representative of the Estate of DORIS LOUCKS, Plaintiff/Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. MANORCARE OF AMERICA, INC.; MANORCARE HEALTH SERVICES, INC.; and MANORCARE OF ARIZONA, INC., a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Ohio, dba MANOR CARE HEALTH SERVICES-TUCSON fka HCR MANOR CARE, INC.; MANORCARE HEALTH SERVICES OF ARIZONA, INC.; NETTIE ELIE and JOHN DOE ELIE, a married couple; RICHARD PARK and JANE DOE PARK; PAUL ORMOND and JANE DOE ORMOND, a married couple; MICHAEL MARTINEZ and JANE DOE MARTINEZ, a married couple; RICK PAREDES and JANE DOE PAREDES, a married couple; and KEITH WEIKEL and JANE DOE WEIKEL, a married couple, Defendants/Appellees/Cross-Appellants., 213 Ariz. 618

Summary

The claims arose from treatment provided to the representative's mother at a nursing home facility. A previous suit was removed to federal court, which dismissed the subsidiaries due to untimely service and denied amendment. The trial court in this case granted summary judgment in favor of the subsidiaries and employees based on res judicata, collateral estoppel, and statute of limitations. On review, the court reversed in part and affirmed in part. Ariz. R. of Civ. P. 4(i), on its face, warranted dismissal of one employee, and the representative was not entitled to notice that the employee had not been properly served. Neither res judicata nor collateral estoppel required summary judgment on the APSA claims against the subsidiaries because the subsidiaries had been dismissed prior to the federal court's grant of summary judgment and thus, the two actions did not involve the same parties or their privies for res judicata. Collateral estoppel was not applicable because the ...