Berg v. Lindgren Chrysler-Plymouth Inc.

73 Pa. D. & C.4th 186, 2005 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 14
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Berks County
DecidedApril 7, 2005
Docketno. 98-813
StatusPublished

This text of 73 Pa. D. & C.4th 186 (Berg v. Lindgren Chrysler-Plymouth Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Berks County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Berg v. Lindgren Chrysler-Plymouth Inc., 73 Pa. D. & C.4th 186, 2005 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 14 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2005).

Opinion

STALLONE, J.,

This is an action for damages involving claims of fraud, civil conspiracy and violation of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law,1 arising out of the repair of body damage to a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee by defendants Lindgren Chrysler-PIymouth Inc. a/k/a Lindgren Chrysler Plymouth Mazda Inc. and Lindgren and Manske Inc. a/k/a Lindgren Chrysler Plymouth Mazda Inc. (Lindgren)2 and by the additional defendant, K.C. Auto Body Inc.3 At the time, the vehicle was being leased by the plaintiffs, Dan Berg and Sherry Berg, and was insured by defendant Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.

Prior to the close of the evidence, and the submission of the case to the jury, this coart directed the parties to prepare proposed special interrogatories for the jury to answer concerning each of the Bergs’ claims. Nationwide prepared special interrogatories, which instructed the jury that it could find Nationwide and/or Lindgren [189]*189liable either on any, all, or none of the claims, and circulated them to the other parties, who did not object to their submission to the jury by the court.

Thereafter, this court instructed the jury concerning the elements of common-law fraud, not only with respect to the underlying common-law fraud claim but also at the request of Nationwide, which was not objected to, a second time relative to the unfair trade practices and consumer protection claim.

And when it came to damages, we instructed the juiy that the Bergs were seeking (in this part of the bifurcated trial) to recover their lease payments made during the repair period, along with the insurance premiums which they paid while the vehicle was not available for their use.

After deliberating for more than four hours, the jury found in favor of Lindgren and Nationwide on the common-law fraud and civil conspiracy claims, but against Lindgren and Nationwide on the unfair trade practices and consumer protection claim.

After the jury announced its verdicts, and before it was discharged, but returned to the deliberation room, counsel for Nationwide and Lindgren made oral motions for judgment n.o.v. on the basis that the jury’s verdicts on the common-law fraud and unfair trade practices and consumer protection claims were “inconsistent,” which we denied after articulating on the record our reasons for doing so.

Nationwide and Lindgren have now each filed a motion for post-trial relief, in which they are once again seeking the entry of judgment n.o.v. on the unfair trade [190]*190practices and consumer protection claim.4 We are filing this opinion in disposition of these motions.

Initially, Nationwide and Lindgren contend that they are entitled to the entry of a judgment on the basis that the jury’s verdicts were inconsistent because, in order for the jury to have found in favor of the Bergs on their unfair trade practices and consumer protection claim, the jury would have necessarily had to first find in favor of the Bergs on their commoia-iaw fraud claim. We strenuously disagree.

In deciding a motion for entry of judgment n.o.v., the reviewing court must keep in mind that it should only be entered in a clear case, with any doubt resolved in favor of the verdict winner. Reading Radio Inc. v. Fink, 833 A.2d 199 (Pa. Super. 2003); City of New Castle v. Uzamere, 829 A.2d 763 (Pa. Commw. 2003); Education Resources Institute Inc. v. Cole, 827 A.2d 493 (Pa. Super. 2003). Moreover, in Pennsylvania, there is a presumption of consistency with respect to a jury’s findings which can be rebutted only by a showing that there is no reasonable theory to support the jury’s verdict. Giovanetti v. Johns-Manville Corporation, 372 Pa. Super. 431, 440, 539 A.2d 871, 875 (1988); see also, Curran v. Greate Bay Hotel and Casino, 434 Pa. Super. 368, 372, 643 A.2d 687, 688 (1994); Goldmas v. Acme Markets Inc., 393 Pa. Super. 245, 251, 574 A.2d 100, 103 (1990).

Therefore, strict form is not required to sustain a verdict; rather, all that is essential is that a jury’s intention be clearly understood. James v. Nolan, 418 Pa. Super. [191]*191425, 614 A.2d 709 (1992). As the James court noted at p. 435, 614 A.2d at 714-15 of its opinion:

“[W]e cannot become so enmeshed in language that we ignore the clear expression of a conscientious lay jury. The record demonstrates without question that they exerted every effort to perform their duties in accordance with the instructions given and to convey to the court and litigants with all the clarity they could summon the results of their deliberations. No more can be reasonably required [from] those not trained in the law. Nor can we discard their diligent effort because of an asserted lack of precision in legal expression [of a conscientious lay jury].”

In looking to section 201 -2(4)(xxi) of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law,5 which serves as the legal basis for the Bergs’ unfair trade practices and consumer protection claim, we see that the term “fraud” is used but not defined... but that an “unfair or deceptive act or practice” is defined as follows: “engaging in any other fraudulent or deceptive conduct which creates a likelihood of confusion or of misunderstanding. ”6

Although the courts have interpreted this catch-all provision of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law to require a finding of common-law fraud,7 the statute goes much further to provide that the fraudu[192]*192lent or deceptive conduct must create a likelihood of confusion or misunderstanding in the course of a consumer transaction, which the jury could have easily concluded is quite different in its application from a common-law fraud claim, which makes no mention whatsoever of its relationship to a consumer or business transaction and certainly does not require the creation of a likelihood of confusion or misunderstanding.

Simply put, the jury was presented with two separate and distinct claims of common-law fraud and a violation of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. Therefore, this court instructed the jury relative to both the common-law fraud and the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law claims as follows (N.T., trial, pp. 974-75):

“Okay, we will start off with fraud. This is fraud — the fraud claim as to defendant’s, Nationwide Insurance Company and/or Lindgren Chiysler-Plymouth Inc. The law says that a person who makes a fraudulent misrepresentation of a material fact to another is responsible for all the harm resulting from that other person’s reliance on the fraudulent misrepresentation.

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Related

Reading Radio, Inc. v. Fink
833 A.2d 199 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2003)
Mazlo v. Kaufman
793 A.2d 968 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2002)
Education Resources Institute, Inc. v. Cole
827 A.2d 493 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2003)
Booze v. Allstate Insurance Co.
750 A.2d 877 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2000)
Philadelphia Police Dept. v. Gray
633 A.2d 1090 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1993)
Goldmas v. Acme Markets, Inc.
574 A.2d 100 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1990)
City of New Castle v. Uzamere
829 A.2d 763 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 2003)
Curran v. Greate Bay Hotel and Casino
643 A.2d 687 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1994)
Beswick v. Maguire
748 A.2d 701 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2000)
James v. Nolan
614 A.2d 709 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1992)
Giovanetti v. Johns-Manville Corp.
539 A.2d 871 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1988)

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Bluebook (online)
73 Pa. D. & C.4th 186, 2005 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 14, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/berg-v-lindgren-chrysler-plymouth-inc-pactcomplberks-2005.