Lawler v. Laidlaw Carriers Flatbed GP, Inc.

875 F. Supp. 2d 443, 2012 WL 2369499, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85805
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJune 20, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. 10-1103
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 875 F. Supp. 2d 443 (Lawler v. Laidlaw Carriers Flatbed GP, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lawler v. Laidlaw Carriers Flatbed GP, Inc., 875 F. Supp. 2d 443, 2012 WL 2369499, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85805 (E.D. Pa. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

TUCKER, District Judge.

Presently before the Court is Defendants’ Motion for New Trial and Motion for Remittitur (Docs. 60, 67), Plaintiffs Response thereto (Docs. 61, 68), and all accompanying briefs and relevant correspondence. For the reasons set forth below, Defendants’ Motion is DENIED.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff, Chad Lawler (“Lawler”), a Pennsylvania resident and former laborer for Dedicated Management Group, brought this personal injury action against: (1) Defendant Contrans Income Fund d/b/a Laidlaw Carriers Flatbed GP, Inc., a Canadian corporation (“Laidlaw”); (2) Bogdan Mulak, a Canadian citizen (collectively, “Defendants”); and (3) Patricia Bottomley.1 Plaintiff alleged that he sustained bodily injury caused by a motor vehicle accident for which Defendants were responsible.

On March 19, 2008, Plaintiff Lawler, age 19, was involved in a three car automobile collision while he was on duty as an employee of Dedicated Management Group. On that day, Plaintiff was riding as a passenger in a 2004 International Harvester Tractor traveling northbound on Interstate 95 in Chester Township. When the driver of the tractor transporting the Plaintiff slowed down due to traffic conditions, a white 2000 Volvo semi-trailer directly behind the tractor failed to stop in time and collided with the tractor. The Defendant driver of the Volvo semitrailer, Bogdan Mulak, was working as an agent within the scope of his employment for Defendant Laidlaw at the time of the collision.

[446]*446Immediately after the tractor in which Plaintiff was riding was hit by the Volvo semitrailer, the Dodge Caravan directly behind the Volvo semi-trailer, driven by Defendant Patricia Bottomley, rear-ended the semi-trailer, which in turn caused the semi-trailer to rear-end the tractor a second time.

Plaintiff claimed that as a result of the collisions, both caused by the Defendants’ negligence, Plaintiff suffered great loss, pain and suffering, which prevented him from continuing to work as a laborer at a rate of $450.00 per week. Plaintiff also claimed that his activities of daily living were restricted, and that he has incurred, and would incur in the future, increased medical bills due to health complications as a result of the collision. Due to his injuries, Plaintiffs neurosurgeon recommended, and Plaintiff underwent, a surgical cervical discectomy and fusion.

Plaintiff sought relief in the form of damages in excess of $150,000.00, separately from Defendants and from Bottomley. This requested amount included, but was not limited to lost earnings and earning power, actual damages, as well as damages for pain and suffering. Plaintiffs claims were based on the theory of negligence.

Two weeks prior to trial, in their Pretrial Memorandum, Defendants admitted liability for the negligence of driver, Defendant Mulak, and conceded that there was no contributory negligence on the part of Plaintiff Lawler. (Doc. 27). A few days prior to trial, on July 25, 2011, Plaintiff submitted a case summary announcing that punitive damages were being sought (Doc. 34). Additionally, on July 28, 2011, Plaintiff filed proposed jury charges, which included proposed instructions on punitive damages. (Doc. 39). Plaintiffs Complaint failed to include a claim for punitive damages.

Starting August 1, 2011, a four day jury trial was held before this Court. On August 5, 2011, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiff, awarding a total amount of $2,761,791.00 in damages. On August 15, 2011, Defendants moved for a New Trial or Remittitur, and subsequently filed their supporting Memorandum of Law on November 15, 2011. (Doc. 67).

LEGAL STANDARDS

A court may grant a new trial “for any reason for which a new trial has heretofore been granted in an action at law in federal court.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(a)(1)(A). Generally, a court will order a new trial: (1) when the jury’s verdict is against the clear weight of the evidence, and a new trial must be granted to prevent a miscarriage of justice; (2) when improper conduct by an attorney or the court unfairly influenced the verdict; (3) when the jury verdict was facially inconsistent; or (4) where a verdict is so grossly excessive or inadequate “as to shock the conscience.” Suarez v. Mattingly, 212 F.Supp.2d 350, 352 (D.N.J.2002) (citations omitted). Determining whether to grant a new trial is within the sound discretion of the trial court. Wagner v. Fair Acres Geriatric Ctr., 49 F.3d 1002, 1017 (3d Cir.1995).

When determining whether to order a new trial after a jury trial, the court should only do so if “the verdict was against the weight of the evidence ... [and] a miscarriage of justice would result if the verdict were to stand.” Williamson v. Conrail, 926 F.2d 1344, 1352 (3d Cir.1991). The granting or refusal of a new trial because of excessiveness is within the discretion of this Court. Robert v. Chodoff, 259 Pa.Super. 332, 393 A.2d 853, 871 (1978). In general, courts will sustain jury verdicts if, drawing all reasonable infer[447]*447enees in favor of the prevailing party, there is a reasonable basis to uphold the verdict; courts will examine the record for evidence that could reasonably have led to the jury’s verdict. See Nissim v. McNeil Consumer Products Co., 957 F.Supp. 600, 602-04 (E.D.Pa.1997).

“Remittitur is justified only in limited instances ... where the verdict plainly is excessive, exorbitant, and beyond what the evidence warrants, or where the verdict resulted from partiality, prejudice, mistake, or corruption.” Smalls v. Pittsburgh-Coming Corp., 843 A.2d 410, 414 (Pa.Super.2004) (citations omitted). The proper question for this Court to resolve is whether the award of damages fall within the excessive, unsupportable realm of unreasonable compensation, or whether the verdict so shocks the sense of justice as to suggest that the jury was influenced by partiality, prejudice, mistake or corruption.

Pennsylvania’s Superior Court has stated six factors that are to be considered in determining whether a verdict is excessive or exorbitant in light of the evidence at trial: (1) the severity of the injury; (2) whether the injury is manifested by objective physical evidence or whether it is only revealed by the subjective testimony; (3) whether the injury is permanent; (4) whether the plaintiff can continue with his or her employment; (5) the size of the out-of-pocket expenses; and (6) the amount of compensation demanded in the original complaint. Bey v. Sacks, 789 A.2d 232, 242 (Pa.Super.Ct.2001) (citing Harding v. Consolidated Rail Corp., 423 Pa.Super. 208, 620 A.2d 1185, 1193 (1993)). The Superior Court also stated that “because every case is unique, the trial court should apply only those factors which are relevant to the particular case in question before determining if the verdict is excessive.” Id. (citing Mineo v. Tancini, 349 Pa.Super.

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Bluebook (online)
875 F. Supp. 2d 443, 2012 WL 2369499, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85805, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lawler-v-laidlaw-carriers-flatbed-gp-inc-paed-2012.