Delaney v. Archdiocese of Philadelphia

924 A.2d 659, 2007 Pa. Super. 129, 2007 Pa. Super. LEXIS 958
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 8, 2007
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 924 A.2d 659 (Delaney v. Archdiocese of Philadelphia) 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
Delaney v. Archdiocese of Philadelphia, 924 A.2d 659, 2007 Pa. Super. 129, 2007 Pa. Super. LEXIS 958 (Pa. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION BY

POPOVICH, J.:

¶ 1 This is an appeal from an order granting judgment in favor of Appellees Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Cardinal Justin Rigali, and Cardinal Anthony Bevilac-qua on the basis that the claims of Appellant John Delaney were barred by the statute of limitations. We affirm.

Entry of judgment on the pleadings is permitted under [Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 1034] which provides for such judgment after the pleadings are closed, but within which such time as not to delay trial. A motion for judgment on the pleadings is similar to a demurrer. It may be entered where there are no disputed issues of fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. In determining if there is a dispute as to facts, the court must confine its consideration to the pleadings and relevant documents. The scope of review on an appeal from the grant of judgment on the pleadings is plenary. We must determine if the action of the court below was based on a clear error of law or whether there were facts disclosed by the pleadings which should properly go to the jury.

Kelaco v. Davis & McKean, 743 A.2d 525, 528 (Pa.Super.1999).

¶2 Keeping the preceding standard in mind, the record discloses that in 1982, at the age of eleven, Appellant became acquainted with Father Brzyski while a parishioner at St. Cecilia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Appellant was also being educated in the parish school, worked in the parish rectory, and served as an altar boy for the parish. Father Brzyski routinely sexually abused Appellant at the child’s residence and at the parish rectory. These abuses lasted for approximately four years and even continued after Father Brzyski transferred from St. Cecilia in 1983 or 1984 — Father Brzyski maintained the relationship with Appellant’s family in order to perpetuate the sexual abuse of the minor child, which was all done with the alleged knowledge and concealment of Father Brzyski’s pedophilia by Appellees Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Cardinal Justin Rigali, and Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.

¶ 3 The reasons Appellant’s parents did not know of the abuse were twofold: 1) Father Brzyski ordered Appellant to refrain from telling anyone; and 2) Appellant, his parents, and other parishioners were told by Appellees that Father Brzy-ski’s removal from St. Cecilia was ascribed to “sick leave.” This lulled Appellant’s parents into allowing Father Brzyski to have continuing access to the minor child. In fact, Appellees’ failure to inform Appellant and his family of Father Brzyski’s history of sexual abuse of children before and after his removal from St. Cecilia and placement on “sick leave” prompted Appel[661]*661lant and his parents to relax their vigilance and refrain from investigating any potential claims against Appellees until August 6, 2005.

[Appellant] first learned of the [ ... ] reports [from a former principal of St. Cecilia or another person affiliated with St. Cecilia] regarding Father Brzyski[’s abuse of Appellant and/or others at St. Cecilia and it being reported to the Archdiocese and/or its representatives] on or about Sunday, August 6, 2005 when he read about the same in that day’s edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Complaint, 9/05, ¶ 55; see also Id. at ¶ 92 (“Prior to August 6, 2005, [Appellant] did not know, nor did he have any reason to know, that he had a cause of action against [Appellees] for causing tortuous [sic ] injury to him due to [Appellees’] concealment of their knowledge of Father Brzyski’s and/or other Predator Priests’ actions toward other minor parishioners and their vehement and public denials as exemplified by their media statements issued on January 4, 1988, of any truth to the allegations contained in related matters that [Appel-lees] had a plan and/or policy to ignore complaints made against its offending clerics and to conceal such criminal conduct.”); Id. at ¶ 101 (“[Appellant] was unaware until at the earliest August 6, 2005, that [Appellees’] continued concealment, misconduct, active fraud, and failure to act on information regarding the misconduct of Father Brzyski and numerous other Archdiocese priests aided, enabled, exacerbated, encouraged, and resulted in causing injuries to [Appellant], thus tolling and/or suspending the running of the statute of limitations against [Appellees] as to all claims.”).

¶ 4 Once Appellant discovered Appellees’ role in concealing knowledge of sexual abuse by Father Brzyski and other predator priests in the Archdiocese, Appellant filed suit in September of 2005 against Appellees. In answer, Appellees denied Appellant’s theories of recovery predicated upon the common law duty of reasonable care (count I), the breach of fiduciary duty (count II), the failure to provide a safe and secure environment (count III), negligent supervision (count IV), persons acting in concert (count V), supplying false information/negligent misrepresentation (count VI), the failure to protect against foreseeable risks (count VII), the duty to warn of unreasonable risk of harm (count VIII), the negligent supervision or use of improper persons as agents (count IX), the use of incompetent persons (count X), fraudulent concealment (count XI), the intentional failure to supervise (count XII), the intentional failure to warn (count XIII), and punitive damages (count XIV).

¶ 5 In new matter, as herein relevant, Appellees asserted that Appellant’s claims were barred by the applicable statute of limitations, which in this case would be 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5524 (a plaintiff must act within a two-year time frame to bring suit for personal injuries sustained at the hands of a defendant). Thereafter, Appellees filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 1084(a), and a memorandum of law in support thereof, to undermine Appellant’s causes of action as violative of the applicable statute of limitations, which was argued not tolled by Appellant’s allegations of fraudulent concealment. The trial court agreed and granted Appellees’ motion for judgment on the pleadings. A timely appeal followed in which Appellant raises a single claim; to-wit:

WHERE [APPELLANT’S] COMPLAINT ALLEGES THAT [APPEL-LEES] MADE FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATIONS DIRECTLY TO HIM AND/OR HIS PARENTS VIA [662]*662GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS TO HIS PARISH AS TO THEIR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF ANY HISTORY OF THEIR PRIEST/EMPLOYEE SEXUALLY ABUSING CHILDREN PRIOR TO HIS ABUSE OF [APPELLANT] AND THE PUNITIVE ACTION TO BE TAKEN AGAINST THE PERPETRATOR IN RESPONSE TO [APPELLANT’S] COMPLAINT, CAUSING [APPELLANT] TO RELAX HIS VIGILANCE, WAS IT AN ERROR FOR THE TRIAL COURT TO GRANT [APPELLEES’] MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS AND DISMISS [APPELLANT’S] ESTOPPEL CLAIM UNDER THE FRAUDULENT CONCEALMENT EXCEPTION TO THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS?

Appellant’s brief, at 5. This issue has been preserved properly for our review.

¶ 6 Appellant alleges that the running of the statute of limitations was tolled based upon Appellees’ fraudulent concealment of Father Brzyski’s abuse of children.1 First, the concealment referred to by Appellant is in the nature of a “general, systematic fraudulent conduct on the part of Archdiocesan [Appellees,]” ie.,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
924 A.2d 659, 2007 Pa. Super. 129, 2007 Pa. Super. LEXIS 958, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/delaney-v-archdiocese-of-philadelphia-pasuperct-2007.