Hranec Sheet Metal, Inc. v. Metalico Pittsburgh, Inc.

107 A.3d 114, 2014 Pa. Super. 278, 2014 Pa. Super. LEXIS 4564
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 18, 2014
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 107 A.3d 114 (Hranec Sheet Metal, Inc. v. Metalico Pittsburgh, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hranec Sheet Metal, Inc. v. Metalico Pittsburgh, Inc., 107 A.3d 114, 2014 Pa. Super. 278, 2014 Pa. Super. LEXIS 4564 (Pa. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION BY

SHOGAN, J.:

Appellant, Hranec Sheet Metal, Inc., appeals from the order granting the preliminary objections, in the nature of demurrers, of Appellees Metálico Pittsburgh, Inc. and Metálico Neville Realty, Inc. (“Metáli-co”). For the reasons that follow, we reverse.

Appellant is a Pennsylvania corporation engaged in the business of fabricating ductwork used for heating and air conditioning systems. In connection with that business, Appellant, purchases and maintains an inventory stock of coils of stainless steel sheets that are used to fabricate this ductwork. The coils weigh thousands of pounds and are not movable except by heavy machinery. Appellant also maintains an inventory of aluminum in the same manner. Metálico owns and operates a scrap metal recycling facility in Brownsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

Appellant filed a complaint against Me-tálico in the Court of Common Pleas of Fayette County alleging that certain of Appellant’s own current or former employees had stolen coils of stainless steel from Appellant and then sold them to Metálico for processing as scrap. Complaint, 3/1/18, at page 2. Appellant claimed that on multiple occasions, Metálico purchased these new coils and violated the “Scrap Metal Theft Prevention Act.”1 Appellant asserted that Metálico had 1) negligently, 2) grossly negligently, and 3) intentionally “failed to take the necessary steps to determine if the stainless steel coils were stolen property,” thereby making the theft of these coils possible. Complaint, 3/1/13, at ¶¶ 8-16.

Appellant subsequently filed an amended complaint for the “purpose of correcting the caption of this case to include the correct and proper name of [Metálico] previously listed under fictitious names in the caption.” Amended Complaint, 5/2/13, at 1. The amended complaint asserted the same claims identified in the original complaint against Metálico and clarified that Appellant’s employees had stolen aluminum in addition to stainless steel. Id. at 2.

Metálico filed preliminary objections to Appellant’s amended complaint pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 1028(a)(4). Preliminary Objections, 5/22/13. By order dated July 16, 2013, the trial court granted Metalico’s preliminary objections. Trial Court Order, 7/18/13, at 1. The order also gave Appellant twenty days from the date of the order to file a second amended complaint. Id.

[118]*118On July 29, 2013, Appellant filed a second amended complaint. Second Amended Complaint, 7/29/13. Appellant claimed that on at least twenty-two occasions between September, 2010, and May, 2011, Metálico purchased the stolen materials. Id. at ¶ 6. Appellant maintained that the value of the stolen property was $408,849.14. Id. at ¶ 8. Appellant contended that Metálico purchased the stolen materials in violation of the Act. Id. at ¶7. The second amended complaint set forth claims of conversion, negligence per se, and concerted tortious conduct. Id. at ¶¶ 9-29.

Metálico again filed preliminary objections pursuant to Pa.R.C.P, 1028(a)(4), asserting that: 1) Appellant had failed to establish the requisite causal connection between any alleged act or omission of Metálico and any alleged harm that Appellant had suffered; 2) Appellant had failed to allege the existence of any legally cognizable duty that Metálico owed Appellant; and 3) the Act does not confer a private right of action upon any individual. Preliminary Objections to Second Amended Complaint, 8/19/13, at ¶¶ 29-47. The trial court sustained Metalico’s preliminary objections and dismissed Appellant’s pleading for its failure to state any legally cognizable claim against Metálico. Trial Court Order, 1/2/14, at 1.

This timely appeal followed. Both Appellant and the trial court complied with the mandates of Pa.R.A.P. 1925.

Appellant presents the following issues for our review:

1. Did Appellant state sufficient facts to plead that a conversion occurred?
2. Is there a causal connection between the thefts and the fencing of the stolen goods?
3. Did Appellant state sufficient facts to plead that there was concerted action between the scrap yard and the thieves?
4.. Does the Restatement of Torts (Second), Section 876, apply to this case?
5. Is a violation of the Scrap Material Theft Prevention Act Negligence Per Sel

Appellant’s Brief at 3.

The standard of review we apply when considering a trial court’s denial of preliminary objections is well settled:

[0]ur standard of review of an order of the trial court overruling or granting preliminary objections is to determine whether the trial court committed an error of law. When considering the appropriateness of a ruling on preliminary objections, the appellate court must apply the same standard as the trial court.
Preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer test the legal sufficiency of the complaint. When considering preliminary objections, all material facts set forth in the challenged pleadings are admitted as true, as well as all inferences reasonably deducible therefrom. Preliminary objections which seek the dismissal of a cause of action should be sustained only in cases in which it is clear and free from doubt that the pleader will be unable to prove facts legally sufficient to establish the right to relief. If any doubt exists as to whether a demurrer should be sustained, ■ it should be resolved in favor of overruling the preliminary objections.

Richmond v. McHale, 35 A.3d 779, 783 (Pa.Super.2012).

Appellant addresses his first two issues together. Appellant’s Brief at 8. Appellant maintains that the trial court erred in granting Metalico’s demurrer with regard to the conversion claim because the controlling precedent of L.B. Foster Co. v. Charles Caracciolo Steel and Metal Yard, Inc., 777 A.2d 1090 (Pa.Super.2001), specif[119]*119ically holds that “all that needs to be proven at trial in this conversion case is that [Metálico] purchased the stolen goods.” Id. Appellant asserts that, because it has attached as Exhibit 1 to the Second Amended Complaint the corporate records of Metálico showing that Metálico purchased the stolen goods, the claim of conversion has been established, and the trial court erred in granting Metalico’s demurrer. Id. Appellant maintains that the “only real issue here is the value of the stolen goods.” Id.

This Court has stated the following with regard to the tort of conversion:

The classic definition of conversion under Pennsylvania law is “the deprivation of another’s right of property in, or use or possession of, a chattel, or other interference therewith, without the owner’s consent and without lawful justification.” McKeeman v. Corestates Bank, N.A., 751 A.2d 655, 659 n. 8 (Pa.Super.2000). Although the exercise of control over the chattel must be intentional, the tort of conversion does not rest on proof of specific intent to commit a wrong. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
107 A.3d 114, 2014 Pa. Super. 278, 2014 Pa. Super. LEXIS 4564, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hranec-sheet-metal-inc-v-metalico-pittsburgh-inc-pa-2014.