Chase, C. v. Adult Day Services

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 3, 2020
Docket2254 EDA 2019
StatusUnpublished

This text of Chase, C. v. Adult Day Services (Chase, C. v. Adult Day Services) 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
Chase, C. v. Adult Day Services, (Pa. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

J-A08012-20

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

CATHERINE CHASE, EXECUTRIX OF : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE ESTATE OF THELMA JENKINS, : PENNSYLVANIA DECEASED, : : Appellant : : : v. : : No. 2254 EDA 2019 : ADULT DAY SERVICES AND MED : TRANSIT LLC : : : v. : : : DRENA SCOTT AND HANDS FROM : THE HEART MANAGEMENT INC. : D/B/A HANDS FROM THE HEART : HOME HEALTHCARE SERVICES :

Appeal from the Judgment Entered October 9, 2019 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Civil Division at No(s): January Term, 2017 No. 04592

BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., KUNSELMAN, J., and McCAFFERY, J.

MEMORANDUM BY LAZARUS, J.: FILED AUGUST 03, 2020

Catherine Chase, in her capacity as Executrix of the Will of Thelma

Jenkins, Deceased (“Chase”), appeals from the judgment, entered in the Court

of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, after the trial court granted a non-

suit in favor of appellees, Adult Day Services, Med Transit, LLC (“Med

Transit”), Drena Scott (“Scott”), and Hands from the Heart Management, Inc., J-A08012-20

d/b/a Hands from the Heart Home Healthcare Services (“Hands from the

Heart”). Upon careful review, we affirm.

The Honorable Ann M. Butchart set forth the facts of this matter as

follows:

Thelma Jenkins [(“Jenkins”)], [Chase’s] great aunt, age ninety[- ]three, suffered from multiple health conditions[,] including dementia. [Jenkins] lived with [Chase] and received home health care from additional defendants Hands from the Heart. She also attended day care at defendant Adult Day Services’ [D]ay [C]are [C]enter. Defendant Med Transit transported [Jenkins] to and from [] Adult Day Services’ care center.

On or around April 19, 201[6], [Jenkins] sustained a head contusion and leg fractures. Her dementia affected her ability to speak, and she could not state what happened to her, where, or when.

On the morning of April 19, 2016, a Hands from the Heart worker named Ann was [Jenkins’] assigned morning caretaker. When [Chase] left for work that morning, [Chase] testified that [Jenkins] appeared “fine.”

[Chase] presented no factual evidence for [what happened during] the period between [Chase’s] departure for work[] and [Jenkins’] return home.

Additional defendant [Scott] testified she was on duty on the evening of April 19, 2016, when the Med Transit van drove [Jenkins] home. She testified she helped the Med Transit driver escort [Jenkins] into the house. Thereafter, [Scott] discovered the head injury and called [Chase], who was on her way home from work. [Chase] recalled [Scott’s] description as “lumps [on] [Jenkins’] head[.]” [Scott] recalled noticing blood inside [Jenkins’] wig. [Chase] testified that[,] after arriving home, she called Mohammed Keita ([“Keita”]), the owner of defendant Med Transit. She testified that [Keita] came to the house, and advised [Chase] that the Med Transit driver had told him “nothing happened.” [Keita] left and returned with a van to transport [Jenkins] to the hospital. In addition to the head injury, [x]-rays taken at the hospital revealed that [Jenkins’] leg sustained a tibia

-2- J-A08012-20

and fibula fracture. [Jenkins] was hospitalized for several days for observation.

[Jenkins] died of unrelated natural causes on May 11, 2018.

Trial Court Opinion, 11/8/19, at 3-4 (citations to record and unnecessary

capitalization omitted).

On February 2, 2017, Jenkins commenced an action alleging negligence

against Adult Day Services and Med Transit. On June 19, 2018, Chase was

substituted as plaintiff upon the death of Jenkins. Scott and Hands from the

Heart were subsequently joined as additional defendants upon motion of Med

Transit. On August 2, 2018, Chase filed a second amended complaint—the

operative complaint in this case—asserting wrongful death and survival causes

of action. Following the denial of summary judgment motions filed by Med

Transit and Adult Day Services, the matter proceeded to trial on April 1, 2019.

At the close of Chase’s case, Med Transit, joined by Adult Day Services and

Hands from the Heart, moved for a compulsory non-suit, which the trial court

granted. On April 12, 2019, Chase filed a motion to remove the non-suit,

which the court denied on June 21, 2019, after oral argument. Chase filed a

timely notice of appeal, and both she and the trial court have complied with

Pa.R.A.P. 1925.

Chase raises the following claims for our review:

1. Whether [Chase] offered evidence, in the form of ample testimony, the believability of which was for the jury, from [Chase’s] witnesses, exhibits, medical records, photographs, and testimony of additional defendant [] Scott, sufficient to proceed to a jury in [her] claims against defendant[s] Med Transit[ and Adult Day Services].

-3- J-A08012-20

2. Whether the trial court erred in granting non-suit because [Chase] did not have the burden of proof in this case [pursuant to the theory of alternative liability established in Summers v. Tice, 199 P.2d 1 (Ca. 1948), and adopted in Pennsylvania in Snoparsky v. Baer, 266 A.2d 707 (Pa. 1970)].

3. Whether the trial court erred when it sustained the trial objection of defendants that [Chase’s] expert Nurse Ingrid Sidorov had not been qualified as an expert in “safety transportation,” thereby precluding [her] further expert testimony on the topic[s] of duty, breach, and causation as [they] relate[] to her proper field of expertise.

4. Whether the trial court erred when it applied the “four corners” doctrine to the scope of permissible opinion testimony pertaining to the transportation logs.

Brief of Appellant, at 5-8 (some issues combined and/or restated for brevity

and ease of disposition; unnecessary capitalization omitted).

Chase’s first two claims allege that the trial court erred in granting a

non-suit as to Med Transit and Adult Day Services, as Chase presented ample

evidence to allow the case to go to the jury. In reviewing the entry of a non-

suit, our standard of review is abuse of discretion or error of law. Kovalev v.

Sowell, 839 A.2d 359, 368 (Pa. Super. 2003).

A motion for compulsory non-suit allows a defendant to test the sufficiency of a plaintiff[’s] evidence and may be entered only in cases where it is clear that the plaintiff has not established a cause of action; in making this determination, the plaintiff must be given the benefit of all reasonable inferences arising from the evidence. When so viewed, a non-suit is properly entered if the plaintiff has not introduced sufficient evidence to establish the necessary elements to maintain a cause of action; it is the duty of the trial court to make this determination prior to the submission of the case to the jury. When this Court reviews the grant of a non-suit, we must resolve all conflicts in the evidence in favor of the party against whom the non-suit was entered.

-4- J-A08012-20

A compulsory non-suit is proper only where the facts and circumstances compel the conclusion that the defendants are not liable upon the cause of action pleaded by the plaintiff.

Int’l Diamond Importers, Ltd. v. Singularity Clark, L.P., 40 A.3d 1261,

1274 (Pa. Super. 2012), quoting Poleri v. Salkind, 683 A.2d 649, 653 (Pa.

Super. 1996).

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Chase, C. v. Adult Day Services, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chase-c-v-adult-day-services-pasuperct-2020.