Varno v. Bally Manufacturing Co.

The procedural issue presented on appeal is whether an amended complaint under Civ. R. 15(D), which substitutes the true name of a defendant that was previously designated by a fictitious name in the original complaint which was not served upon such defendant, relates back to the date of filing the original pleading for the purposes of the statute of limitations.1 Throughout this litigation, appellant has maintained that Civ. R. 15(D) should be read in conjunction with Civ. R. 3(A) so that if service is obtained on the unknown defendant within one year of filing the complaint, the action is…