Waybrant v. Clackamas County

This is an appeal by plaintiff from a judgment for defendant after dismissal of plaintiff’s action for damages for the death of plaintiff’s decedent. The issue is whether plaintiff’s fourth amended complaint, which was filed after the statute of limitations had run, alleged a new cause of action against defendant and, therefore, did not relate back to the filing of the original complaint. We find that it did relate back and, therefore, reverse.

Plaintiff, as personal representative of decedent’s estate, filed his first complaint on March 22, 1978. The action was brought under the Oregon Tort…