Court Applies Discovery Rule to Extend Statute of Limitations

In the case of Goldstein v. Finley Catering Co., Inc., No. 2:24-CV-00069-CSMW (E.D. Pa. Nov. 14, 2025 Moore Wells, M.J.), a Magistrate Judge in the Eastern Federal District Court applied the discovery rule to allow a Plaintiff to add a Defendant over a year after the statute of limitations had expired on a slip and fall claim.

The court reviewed the record before it and noted that the Defendant originally sued initially misrepresented that it owned and operated the premises where the Plaintiff was allegedly injured. The court had noted that the Plaintiff had no reason to believe that this initial representation was false until that Defendant came clean.

As such, the court applied the discovery rule to support the Plaintiff’s joinder of the entity that actually owned the premises as a Defendant in the matter.

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.  The Court's companion Order can be viewed HERE.

Source: Article – “Defendant Properly Added to Slip-and-Fall Outside of Statute of Limitations, Fed. Judge Rules” By Riley Brennan Pennsylvania Law Weekly (Nov. 18, 2025).

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