Alderwoods (Pennsylvania), Inc. v. Duquesne Light Co.

52 A.3d 347, 2012 Pa. Super. 153, 2012 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1595
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 27, 2012
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 52 A.3d 347 (Alderwoods (Pennsylvania), Inc. v. Duquesne Light Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alderwoods (Pennsylvania), Inc. v. Duquesne Light Co., 52 A.3d 347, 2012 Pa. Super. 153, 2012 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1595 (Pa. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION BY

MUSMANNO, J.

Alderwoods (Pennsylvania), Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Service Corporation International, t/a Burton L. Hirsch Funeral Home (“Hirsch”), appeals from the Order entering summary judgment against it and in favor of Duquesne Light Company (“Duquesne Light”). We reverse and remand for trial.

The trial court summarized the facts underlying the instant appeal as follows:

The facts of this matter reflect that a motor vehicle accident occurred on Forward Avenue in the Squirrel Hill section of the City of Pittsburgh on January 8, 2009. The vehicle crashed into and broke a Duquesne Light utility pole, causing interruption of electrical service to numerous customers near the intersection of Forward Avenue and Murray Avenue, including [Hirsch]. Neighboring customers to [Hirsch] were also out of power as a result of this accident.
Duquesne Light received a call that the power was out in this area around 8:30 p.m. on January 9, 2009. A Du-quesne Light crew was sent out to assess the situation and to make necessary repairs in order to restore service. Service was ultimately restored to that neighborhood. The last building to have its power restored was apparently [Hirsch’s funeral home]. The old utility pole was removed and a new pole installed. Replacement equipment was also installed on this pole, including a three[-]phase transformer. Duquesne Light workers also connected a tri-plex, which consists of two energized (hot) wires and a neutral wire. The neutral conductor was correctly connected first, followed by the hot conductors. The procedure went smoothly, with no cause for concern for the crew. Restoration of power at a pole in this fashion is a typical job for Duquesne Light crews.
After making the connections at the pole, the Duquesne Light crew made the connections at the [Hirsch] building, first connecting the neutral conductor and then the energized conductors. These connections were made on the roof of [Hirsch] without any difficulty. After the connections were made, power to [Hirsch] was turned on and the workers came down from the roof of the building. Shortly thereafter, a fire began inside [Hirsch]. The fire originated in the basement in the electrical panel number 1.... [Hirsch] was locked at the time of the fire.

Trial Court Opinion, 3/8/11, at 2-3.

Hirsch subsequently filed a Complaint against Duquesne Light, followed by an Amended Complaint. Hirsch’s Amended Complaint averred five counts against Du-quesne Light: (1) Ordinary Negligence; (2) Negligence — Breach of Duty of Highest Degree of Care; (3) Negligence — Res Ipsa Loquitur, (4) Breach of Implied Duty of Hazard-Free Service; and (5) Breach of Implied Duty of Careful Repair. Amended Complaint at ¶¶ 13-33. At the close of discovery, Duquesne Light filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, which the trial court ultimately granted. Thereafter, Hirsch filed the instant timely appeal.

Hirsch presents eight claims for our review:

[1.] Whether [Duquesne Light] was entitled to summary judgment as to the implied warranty of hazard-free service, when under very similar circumstances, the Trial Court had previously held such a cause of action to exist[?]
[350]*350[2.] Whether the Trial Court erred by-failing to follow the previous decision of a colleague on the same court[?]
[3.] Whether the Trial Court erred by failing to distinguish warranty from negligence in its Opinion[?]
[4.] Whether Pennsylvania’s test for the existence of a duty indicated that [Duquesne Light] owed [Hirsch] a duty[?]
[5.] Whether [Duquesne Light], having previously litigated a nearly identical set of facts, was estopped to assert that the sequence of events leading to [Hirsch’s] loss was not foreseeable[?]
[6.] Whether [Duquesne Light] was under a duty to prevent the events giving rise to [Hirsch’s] damages, because the events were foreseeable, thereby precluding summary judgment^]
[7.] Whether [Duquesne Light] was subject to the highest degree of care because it was in control of an inherently dangerous instrumentality^]
[8.] Whether the Trial Court erred by citing to the non-binding, and unpersuasive, opinions of an administrative body[?]

Brief for Appellant at 4-5 (issues renumbered).

A party is entitled to summary judgment when they show there is no genuine issue of material fact and they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Atlantic States Ins. Co. v. Northeast Networking Sys., Inc., 893 A.2d 741, 745 (Pa.Super.2006). Such allegations may be supported by the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions of record, and submitted affidavits. Stimmler v. Chestnut Hill Hosp., 602 Pa. 539, 981 A.2d 145, 154 (2009). Our standard of review of the grant of summary judgment is as follows:

We view the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, and all doubts as to the existence of a genuine issue of material fact must be resolved against the moving party. Only where there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and it is clear that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law will summary judgment be entered. Our scope of review of a trial court’s order granting or denying summary judgment is plenary, and our standard of review is clear: the trial court’s order will be reversed only where it is established that the court committed an error of law or abused its discretion.

Daley v. A.W. Chesterton, Inc., 37 A.3d 1175, 1179 (Pa.2012) (citation omitted).

Hirsch’s first two claims challenge the trial court’s grant of summary judgment as to the counts of Hirsch’s Amended Complaint averring breach of implied warranties. Hirsch first claims that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment because, in Wivagg v. Duquesne Light Co., 73 D. & C.2d 694 (Allegheny Co.1975), the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas confirmed the existence of such a cause of action for breach of implied warranty against an electric company. Brief for Appellant at 16. In conjunction with this claim, Hirsch asserts that the trial court misapplied a later decision of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas in Bellotti v. Duquesne Light Co., 44 Pa. D. & C.3d 425 (Pa.Com.Pl.1987), as a basis for dismissing Hirsch’s implied warranty counts. Brief for Appellant at 19.

Second, Hirsch claims that the trial court erred in not acknowledging or applying the decisions of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas in Wivagg and Bellotti, under the legal principle of stare decisis. Id. at 21. Basically, Hirsch claims that its case is indistinguishable [351]*351from the circumstances presented in Wiv-agg and accordingly, the trial court erred in deeming its breach of implied warranty claims legally insufficient. Upon review, we conclude that the decision of the common pleas court in Wivagg

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Bluebook (online)
52 A.3d 347, 2012 Pa. Super. 153, 2012 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1595, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alderwoods-pennsylvania-inc-v-duquesne-light-co-pasuperct-2012.