Clark v. Lancaster City Housing Authority

14 Pa. D. & C.4th 411, 1992 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 330
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lancaster County
DecidedMarch 4, 1992
Docketno. 4635 of 1991
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 14 Pa. D. & C.4th 411 (Clark v. Lancaster City Housing Authority) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lancaster County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Clark v. Lancaster City Housing Authority, 14 Pa. D. & C.4th 411, 1992 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 330 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1992).

Opinion

PEREZOUS, J.,

Before the court are the preliminary objections of the defendants, Thomas L. Harkless and the Lancaster City Housing Authority, to the complaint of plaintiff, Michael C. Clark. The preliminary objections are in the nature of a motion to strike and a demurrer. Briefs have been filed and oral argument is denied; thus, the motion is ready for disposition. For the reasons expressed below, defendants’ objections will be sustained.

Plaintiff seeks an award of compensatory and punitive damages against defendants for alleged violations of the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law, 43 P.S. §1421 et seq., and for defendants’ alleged wrongful discharge of plaintiff, which discharge plaintiff claims was in violation of public policy as well as in violation of plaintiff’s constitutional rights under 42 U.S.C. §1983. Plaintiff has made a demand for a jury trial under the Whistleblower Law, 43 P.S. §1421 et seq.

The Pennsylvania Constitution does not expressly guarantee the right to a jury trial in proceedings involving the Whistleblower Law. The Constitution of this Commonwealth, however, does provide that “ [tjrial by jury shall be as heretofore, and the right thereof remain inviolate.” Pennsylvania Constitution, Article I, §6. Our Supreme Court has steadfastly pronounced that the term “heretofore” intends to preserve rights existing when our Commonwealth adopted its original Constitution. Byers and Davis v. Commonwealth, 42 Pa. 89 (1862). We are aware that our Constitution mandates a jury trial in every case where one would have been so entitled at the time the Constitution of [413]*4131790 was adopted. William Goldman Theatres v. Dana, 405 Pa. 83, 173 A.2d 59 (1961), cert. denied, 368 U.S. 897, 82 S.Ct. 174, 7 L.Ed. 2d 93 (1961). Further, jury trials are not available in proceedings created by statute unless the proceeding has a common law basis or unless the statute expressly or impliedly so provides. Murphy v. Cartex Corp., 377 Pa. Super. 181, 192, 546 A.2d 1217, 1222 (1988); see also Watson Appeal, 377 Pa. 495, 105 A.2d 576 (1954). cert. denied, 348 U.S. 879, 75 S.Ct. 120, 99 L.Ed. 692 (1954); Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission v. W.J. Dillner Transfer Co., 191 Pa. Super. 136, 149, 155 A.2d 429, 435 (1959); Commonwealth v. Marco Electric Manufacturing Corp., 32 Pa. Commw. 360, 379 A.2d 342 (1977).

The Whistleblower Law involves a statutory remedy passed by the legislature in 1986. As such, the Law and the rights it confers were nonexistent at the time the Pennsylvania Constitution was adopted. Therefore, no right to a jury trial existed which the Constitution could preserve.

Having concluded that plaintiff has no constitutional right to have a jury hear a violation of the Whistleblower Law, we also find as a matter of statutory interpretation that the legislature did not intend to provide a right to demand a jury trial in Whistleblower Law violations brought in courts of common pleas. When ascertaining legislative intent, courts must consider the entire statute and avoid according an individual provision an interpretation which does not take into account related sections of the same statute. 1 Pa.C.S. §1921(a); Murphy, supra at 193, 546 A.2d at 1223; Causer v. Mandarino, 338 Pa. Super. 564, 488 A.2d 36 (1985). Section 1425, Enforcement, of the Whistleblower Law declares that:

[414]*414“A court, in rendering a judgment in an action brought under this act, shall order, as the court considers appropriate, reinstatement of the employee, the payment of back wages, full reinstatement of fringe benefits and seniority rights, actual damages or any combination of these remedies. A court may also award the complainant all or a portion of the costs of litigation, including reasonable attorney fees and witness fees, if the court determines that the award is appropriate.” 43 P.S. §1425. (emphasis added)

This court finds instructive that the Whistleblower Law never refers to a jury decision, but rather to the decision of the trial court. Thus, because the right to a jury trial in a claim for violation of the Whistleblower Law is not provided for in the statute, implied by its legislative history or intent, expressly guaranteed by the Constitution or based in common law, we conclude that no such right exists in the present case.

Defendants next demur to Count II of the complaint, claiming damages for wrongful discharge, as it fails to state a cause of action for which relief may be granted.

This court is guided by well established principles when ruling upon the sufficiency of a demurrer. A demurrer admits every well-pleaded material fact set forth in the pleadings to which it is addressed, as well as all inferences which reasonably follow therefrom. Smith v. Wagner, 403 Pa. Super. 316, 588 A.2d 1308 (1991); Buchanan v. Brentwood Fed. S&L Assn. 457 Pa. 135, 320 A.2d 117 (1974), appeal after remand, Buchanan v. Century Fed. S&L Assn. 259 Pa. Super. 37, 393 A.2d 704 (1978). Moreover, such a preliminary objection can be sustained only where it appears with certainty that the court will not permit recovery by [415]*415the plaintiff upon the facts pleaded. Village at Camelback v. Carr, 371 Pa. Super. 452, 458, 538 A.2d 528, 531 (1988), affirmed, 524 Pa. 330, 572 A.2d 1 (1990).

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Bluebook (online)
14 Pa. D. & C.4th 411, 1992 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 330, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clark-v-lancaster-city-housing-authority-pactcompllancas-1992.