Cole v. Finsel

691 F. Supp. 841, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8355, 1988 WL 80510
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 20, 1988
DocketCiv. No. 87-1039
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 691 F. Supp. 841 (Cole v. Finsel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cole v. Finsel, 691 F. Supp. 841, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8355, 1988 WL 80510 (M.D. Pa. 1988).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

CONABOY, District Judge.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The Plaintiffs in the above matter are 19 individuals who purchased properties located in Kidder Township, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, through agreements of sale over a period stretching from August, 1983 to August, 1985. Defendant Finsel, the sewage enforcement officer for Kidder Township, Pennsylvania, issued permits for on-site sewage disposal systems for each of the Plaintiffs’ properties. However, the Plaintiffs allege that their properties were never tested to ascertain the suitability for a sewage disposal system and, unfortunately, the properties are unsuitable for any [843]*843type of on-site sewage disposal system. Plaintiffs Cole, Edgar, Orlando, Guidice, and Aiello, relied on the permit which Defendant Finsel issued and entered into construction agreements with various builders resulting in homes being constructed on the property.

Plaintiffs allege Defendant Finsel, acting in his official capacity, routinely accepted illegal payments in exchange for sewage permits and, in fact, issued their permits as a result of the illegal payments.

As a result, the Plaintiffs filed a 22 count complaint on July 27,1987. The counts can be briefly summarized as follows:

Counts 1 through J — Plaintiffs v. various Defendants under Section 1964 of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.1
Count 5 — Plaintiff v. Kidder Township for deprivation of rights secured under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Count 6 — David and Henrietta Cole v. Gary S. Reinhardt, Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania for deprivation of rights secured under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Count 7 — Plaintiffs v. Kidder Township based on breach of warranty.
Count 8 — Plaintiff Edgar v. Defendant Northeast Land Co. for breach of contract.
Count 9 — Plaintiffs LeDonne v. Defendants Brousard, Chelsea, and Chelsea t/a Poeono Land Partnership for breach of contract.
Count 10 — Plaintiffs Lauterbach v. Defendants Rehrig and Leonardis for breach of contract.
Count 11 — Plaintiffs Romano v. Defendants Barbeito for breach of contract. Count 12 — Plaintiffs D’Adamo and Aiello v. Defendants Ludgate, Crill, and Kauffman, t/a R.F.V. Associates, for breach of contract.
Count 13 — Plaintiffs Cole v. Defendants Poeono West, Inc., and Finsel, based on fraud.
Count 11¡. — Plaintiffs Edgar, D’Adamo, and Aiello v. Defendants Ludgate, Pocono West, Inc;, George, S & S Home Builders, Inc., and Finsel, based upon fraud.
Count 15 — Plaintiffs Ledonne, Orlando, Lauterbach, Romano, Massie, Fallon and Guidice v. Defendant Finsel, based upon fraud.
Count 16 — Plaintiffs Cole v. Defendants Ludgate and Poeono West, Inc., based upon negligence.
Count 17 — Plaintiff Edgar v. Defendant Poeono West, Inc. based upon negligence.
Count 18 — Plaintiffs Lauterbach v. Defendant Rehrig based upon negligence. Count 19 — Plaintiffs Romano v. Defendant Kenneth McGeehan based upon negligence.
Count 20 — Plaintiffs Massey v. Defendant E.R.A. Poeono Resorts Realty, Inc. based upon negligence.
Count 21 — Plaintiffs Fallon v. Defendant Poeono West, Inc. based upon negligence.
Count 22 — Plaintiffs D’Adamo and Aiello v. Defendants Ludgate and Poeono West, Inc., based upon negligence.

In response to the complaint, various Defendants have filed motions to dismiss the complaint or for a more definite statement. Many of those motions are similar to those raised in the companion case of Mallough v. Finsel, et al., Civil No. 86-1179. Here, as in Mallough, Defendants argue that the Plaintiffs’ allegations against them under the RICO counts either do not state a RICO claim or are too vague for them to form an adequate response. Similarly, the Defendants maintain that Plaintiffs’ fraud allegations either fail to comply with the specificity requirement of Fed.R.Civ.Proc. 9(b) or simply do not contain the necessary averments for maintaining a fraud action. With regard to the negligence allegations, Defendants raise the absence of any duty [844]*844on their part, the breach of which would implicate negligence considerations.

Defendant Kidder Township argues here, as in Mallough, that the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act, 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 8541 et seq. bars the Plaintiffs’ breach of warranty claims against it. Kidder Township also reiterates the argument raised in Mallough, that Plaintiffs have failed to plead a cause of action against the Township under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for any violation on their part of the Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.

Although the briefing in this case is nearly identical to that in Mallough, the instant motions also contain a few issues which are unique to this case. Namely, various Defendants raise res judicata as a defense by pointing to orders of the Court of Common Pleas of Carbon County, Pennsylvania. Those Orders dismissed an amended complaint that Plaintiffs filed in the common pleas court on preliminary objections raised by Defendants.

Also peculiar to the instant action is David and Henrietta Cole’s civil rights count against Gary S. Reinhardt, Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania. Defendant Reinhardt has moved to dismiss the claim on three alternative grounds (1) prosecutorial immunity; (2) qualified good faith immunity; and (3) that his conduct did not rise to the level of a constitutional violation.

In light of the various motions, the Court will file an order consistent with the Mallough opinion dated May 31, 1988, requiring the Plaintiffs to amend the RICO and fraud counts in conformity with the discussion in the Mallough memorandum. Furthermore, in conformity with the Mallough opinion, the Court will grant Kidder Township’s motion to dismiss the breach of warranty counts as precluded by the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act. Additionally, the Court will deny Kidder Township’s motion to dismiss Plaintiffs’ civil rights claim grounded on 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

The remainder of this Memorandum will address the Defendants’ defense grounded on res judicata, and will consider Defendant Reinhardt’s immunity defenses.

RES JUDICATA DEFENSES

With respect to the earlier lawsuit, the parties appeared to concede that on June 9, 1986 Frank Aiello, Robert J. D’Adamo, Jr., Richard Edgar, and a class of undetermined persons designated as “Class A” filed a complaint entitled as a class action in the Court of Common Pleas of Carbon County to No. 86-Civ-0543.

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691 F. Supp. 841, 1988 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8355, 1988 WL 80510, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cole-v-finsel-pamd-1988.