Brown v. Taylor

494 A.2d 29, 90 Pa. Commw. 23, 1985 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1243
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 10, 1985
DocketAppeal, No. 2427 C.D. 1981
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 494 A.2d 29 (Brown v. Taylor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brown v. Taylor, 494 A.2d 29, 90 Pa. Commw. 23, 1985 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1243 (Pa. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge MacPhail,

This appeal results from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Huntingdon County1 which sustained preliminary objections of defendants-appellees, the Honorable Newton C. Taylor, President .Judge of Huntingdon County (appellee Judge Taylor), Larry D. Sather, Lee R, Wilson and Merle E. Steininger, County Commissioners of Huntingdon [25]*25County ánd the County of Huntingdon (appellee Commissioners) and dismissed a complaint filed by Peggi M. Brown (Appellant).

Appellant’s complaint states that Appellant was employed as a court stenographer by the County of Huntingdon in June of 1975. In that capacity, she forked under the immediate supervision of appellee Judge Taylor. On November 25, 1980 appellee Judge Taylor informed Appellant that her employment was being immediately terminated. The reason for the termination was never communicated to Appellant. At the time her employment was terminated, the County had in effect a Public Service Employees Code of 'Conduct, Ethics, and Practice (Code) which, inter alia, guaranteed county employees certain rights before being terminated. Appellant,- through her attorney, contacted the County Commissioners and requested reinstatement with back pay. "When that request was refused, Appellant filed the lawsuit which is the subject of this appeal.

Appellant’s complaint sets forth three causes 6f action: 1) a violation of her constitutional right to due process under the 14th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution and a violation of her civil rights under 42 U.S.C. §1983, 2) an action in assumpsit alleging that she was terminated in violation of the provisions of the Code which she states was a breach of her employment contract and 3) an action in trespass alleging a breach of duty owed to her which constitutes the “tort of wrongful discharge”.

Appellee Judge Taylor’s preliminary objections were in the nature of a petition raising the question of jurisdiction, a demurrer to all three causes of action and a motion to strike because of violation of the rules of civil procedure. Appellee Commissioners’ preliminary objections were in the nature of a demurrer [26]*26to all three causes of action and a motion to strike because the provisions of Section 1620 of the County Code, Act of August 9, 1955, P.L. 323, as amended, 16. P.S. §1620 state, inter alia, that County Commissioners have the exclusive power and authority to represent the courts in collective bargaining negotiations, but that right does not affect the hiring, discharging, and supervising of judicial employees by the judiciary.

The trial court, in ruling on the preliminary objections of appellee Judge Taylor held that: 1) jurisdiction of Appellant’s cause of action asserted against appellee Judge Taylor was vested in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania' by virtue of the provisions of the Judicial .Code, 42 Pa. C. S. §761 (a)(1) and 2) the Appellant failed to state a cause of action against appellee Judge Taylor because she failed to allege any claim of entitlement to future employment other than, the Code and under prevailing law, she has no property interest in her employment. The trial court,. accordingly, sustained the preliminary objections raising the question of jurisdiction and in the. nature of a.demurrer and dismissed the complaint as to. appellee Judge Taylor.

With respect to appellee Commissioners, the trial court sustained both the motion to strike and the demurrers because Appellant failed to set forth any duty OAved to her and the Code was unenforceable as to her “under the circumstances as alleged in the complaint”. The trial court dismissed the complaint as to. appellee Commissioners, as well.

Petition Raising Question oe Jurisdiction

•Section 761(a)(1) of the Judicial Code provides, ■with certain exceptions the trial court found to be inapplicable here, that this Court has exclusive jurisdic[27]*27tion of causes of action against officers of the Commonwealth government.

Preliminarily we observe that our jurisdiction is “unique in that it is predicated upon the identity of the parties and the capacity in which they sue or are sued rather than upon the nature of the cause of action asserted.” General State Authority v. Pacific Indemnity Co., 24 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 82, 87-88, 354 A.2d 56, 59 (1976). As we stated in Konhaus v. Lutton, 21 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 181, 183, 344 A.2d 763, 764 (1975):

The nature of the cause of action asserted assumes importance and only becomes critical in determining our jurisdiction with respect to causes asserted against an officer of the Commonwealth acting in his official capacity. As to this class of actions, it is necessary to not only determine the true nature of the cause asserted, but also to decide if its essential thrust is directed againt the defendant for actions taken or performed in his official capacity.

The jurisdictional issue, then, is two-fold: wé must have jurisdiction not only over the person but we must also have jurisdiction over the action. Our analysis of the jurisdictional question begins with the premise that a judge of any court of common pleas, when sued in his official capacity, is either the “Commonwealth government” or an officer thereof. Therefore, we do have jurisdiction over appellee Judge Taylor; we next focus upon the nature of the cause of action asserted. Konhaus.

As we have noted, Appellant has set forth three causes' of action against appellee Judge Taylor. : In a recent decision of our Supreme Court, which decision was not available to the trial court, it was held that “actions against' the Commonwealth or its officers [28]*28acting in their official Capacity for money damages based on tort liability are outside the original jurisdiction of Commonwealth Court and are properly commenced in the Courts of Common Pleas.” Balshy v. Rank, Pa. , , 490 A.2d 415, 420-21 (1985). The Bolshy Court also concluded that actions under 42 U.S.C. §§1983 and 1985 are actions in the nature of a trespass which would be excepted from our original jurisdiction.

Applying those holdings to the instant case, we must conclude that the trial court erred when it held that the court of common pleas lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate the causes of action in trespass and under Section 1983.

With respect to the Cause of action in assumpsit against appellee' Judge Taylor, we hold that Section 761(a)(1) (iii) of the Judicial Code which excepts from our original jurisdiction actions which should be commenced before the Board of Claims under the provisions of- the Act of May 20, 1937, P.L. 728, as amended, 72 P.S. §§4651-1-4651-10, would vest jurisdiction of this cause of action in the Board of Claims rather than in this Court. See Modjeski and Masters v. Larson, 50 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 215,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
494 A.2d 29, 90 Pa. Commw. 23, 1985 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 1243, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brown-v-taylor-pacommwct-1985.