Velasquez v. Franz

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

GARIBALDI, J.

This case presents the question of whether a dismissal in federal court that focuses on a defendant’s lack of capacity to be sued constitutes an adjudication on the merits of the claim, thereby barring under principles of res judicata a subsequent suit between the same parties, asserting the same claims, based on the same facts in state court. Indeed, the complaint plaintiff filed in the subsequent state action was virtually identical to the complaint plaintiff filed in the prior federal action.

*501I

Plaintiff, Jose Velasquez, a New York…