American Bankers Association v. Gould

This consolidated appeal involves wrongful death actions filed in two different federal district courts sitting in diversity. Acting as personal representative of the estate of his late wife, Laura Fields, George Fields brought an action for wrongful death against Legacy Health System ("Legacy") in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. The complaint alleged that Legacy negligently caused Laura Fields death by failing to diagnose her cervical cancer from a Pap smear, and sought damages for Raven Fields, a minor child of George and Laura Fields. Subsequently, George Fields filed an identical action in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. The Oregon federal district court applied Oregons statutes of limitations and repose to dismiss George Fields case with prejudice, denied him leave to amend his complaint, and denied his motion to certify state constitutional questions to the Oregon Supreme Court. Thereafter, the Washington federal district court dismissed George Fields Washington action based on Oregons statutes of limitations and repose, as well as on collateral estoppel grounds.