Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
Relation Back
Plaintiff sued her former employer for intrusion upon seclusion and violations of federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, for, after her last day of work, having accessed her personal e-mail account and printed out 30 of her personal e-mails. Plaintiff's failure to name her former boss and his assistant was a mistake derived from her lack of knowledge as to nature of their involvement, and Section 2-616(d) of Code of Civil Procedure applies so that her amended pleading to name them as Defendant relates back to date of original pleading. However, assistant did not have required notice of suit within statutory time period, so complaint does not relate back as to her. Plaintiff's diligence was demonstrated by including "unknown persons" as Defendants in original complaint, and alleging that she intended to name persons who had accessed her e-mails upon learning their identity. (JORGENSEN and HUDSON, concurring.)