Lieberger v. Walter Co.

74 Pa. D. & C.4th 270, 2005 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 125
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Fayette County
DecidedMay 11, 2005
Docketno. 667 of 2000, G.D.
StatusPublished

This text of 74 Pa. D. & C.4th 270 (Lieberger v. Walter Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Fayette County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lieberger v. Walter Co., 74 Pa. D. & C.4th 270, 2005 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 125 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2005).

Opinion

SOLOMON, J,

Before the court is a motion for summary judgment filed by one of the defendants, Coolspring Stone Supply Inc. The motion alleges that there exist no genuine issues of material fact and that, therefore, the defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. After careful consideration of the record, this motion must be granted in part and denied in part.

BACKGROUND

The plaintiff’s complaint arises from an accident that occurred on March 30, 1998, at the defendant’s quarry on Jumonville Road in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. The plaintiff and his supervisor, Dwayne Krumanacker,1 were installing a new ground wire in a wiring trough as part of a general upgrade of one of the mine tunnels when an explosion occurred, burning both the plaintiff and Krumanacker.

The wiring trough measures approximately 12 feet in length and is approximately one foot high and one foot deep. It is mounted on the rear wall of the secondary control house and contains a series of electrical wires and connecting blocks that allow electrical power to flow to the various machinery in the mines. A 12,470/7,200-volt, three-phase, four-wire line runs from the outside pole to a transformer, also outside, which converts the power into three 480/277-volt, three-phase lines. Those [273]*273three 480-volt lines run into the secondary control house and into the wiring trough, where they are split into three segments with each segment terminating in a three-pole connector block with a single-pole ground lug.2 Each connector block contains three U-shaped connectors, which allow the 480-volt lines to be connected to the power lines for the various machinery and which are insulated and are intended to keep the electrical lines from touching each other, or anything else, to avert the creation of an electrical short.

On March 30, 1998, the plaintiff and Krumanacker were installing a new ground wire in the wiring trough. Towards the end of the project, both the plaintiff and Krumanacker were kneeling on a rubber pad in front of the center of the wiring trough, the plaintiff to the left of Krumanacker, when an explosion occurred on the left side of the box. Both the plaintiff and Krumanacker were thrown backwards by the explosion, and the plaintiff’s clothes caught fire. Both men suffered burns, with the plaintiff’s bums being much more severe than those suffered by Krumanacker.

Both men were flown by medevac helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh. Krumanacker was admitted overnight for observation and then released. The plaintiff remained in the hospital for 14 days, receiving treatment for burns over 40 percent of his body. He was then transferred to his parents’ home where he received home nursing care for an additional three weeks. The plaintiff has undergone continuing medical treatment for his burns, [274]*274including skin grafts on his chin and both arms, and plastic surgery to correct scarring to his lip. His left arm has slightly diminished functioning due to the inflexibility of the scarred skin; the scarring is scheduled to be corrected in the future. To prevent infection or injury to his healing skin, the plaintiff wore a protective shirt for approximately one year after the explosion and wore a protective sleeve on his right arm for one year following a skin graft in March 2001. He applies moisturizing cream to the scarred areas everyday to prevent the scars from drying out. The plaintiff has returned to full-time work for Krumanacker Electric.

Both the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the state Bureau of Mining and Reclamation investigated the explosion. MSHA issued a citation on the evening of the incident, prohibiting any work on or in the mine until the electrical explosion had been fully investigated and remedial action taken. Coolspring asked Krumanacker Electric to install a disconnect switch between the transformer and the wiring trough, and MSHA lifted the citation. No further citations have been issued by either MSHA or the Bureau of Mining regarding this incident.

The plaintiff filed suit against 15 defendants. Most of these claims sound in products liability; however, the claim against Coolspring sounds in negligence under two theories. The first is property owner liability and the second is negligence per se. In its answer, a co-defendant, FCI USA Inc., filed, as a new matter, a cross claim against Coolspring under Pa.R.C.P. 2252(d), echoing the plaintiff’s negligence claims and demanding contribution. Coolspring subsequently filed for summary judgment against both the plaintiff and FCI.

[275]*275DISCUSSION

Motions for summary judgment are governed by Pa.R.C.P. 1035.2, which provides:

“After the relevant pleadings are closed, but within such time as not to unreasonably delay trial, any party may move for summary judgment in whole or in part as a matter of law:
“(1) whenever there is no genuine issue of any material fact as to a necessary element of the cause of action or defense which could be established by additional discovery or expert report, or
“(2) if, after the completion of discovery relevant to the motion, including the production of expert reports, an adverse party who will bear the burden of proof at trial has failed to produce evidence of facts essential to the cause of action or defense which in a jury trial would require the issues to be submitted to a jury.” Pa.R.C.P. 1035.2.

The purpose of the summaiy judgment rule is to eliminate cases prior to trial where a party cannot make out a claim or defense after relevant discovery has been completed. Miller v. Sacred Heart Hospital, 753 A.2d 829 (Pa. Super. 2000). It is not the function of the court ruling on a motion for summary judgment to weigh evidence and to determine the truth of the matter. Keenheel v. Pennsylvania Securities Commission, 134 Pa. Commw. 494, 579 A.2d 1358 (1990). Further, summaiy judgment may only be granted when “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions on file, together with any affidavits ... demonstrate that there exists no genuine issue of fact” and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Janson v. Cozen & O ’Connor, 450 Pa. Super. 415, 423, 676 A.2d 242, 246 (1996).

[276]*276Under Rule 1035.2(2), if a defendant is the moving party, he may make the showing necessary to support the entrance of summary judgment by pointing to materials which indicate that the plaintiff is unable to satisfy an element of his cause of action. Ertel v. Patriot-News Co., 544 Pa. 93, 102, 674 A.2d 1038, 1042 (1996), cert, denied, 519 U.S. 1008, 117 S.Ct. 512, 136 L.Ed. 2d 401 (1996). The non-moving party must adduce sufficient evidence on an issue essential to its case and on which it bears the burden of proof such that a jury could return a verdict favorable to the non-moving party, and may not rest upon the averments contained in its pleadings. Amabile v. Auto Kleen Car Wash, 249 Pa. Super. 240, 376 A.2d 247 (1977). The non-moving party must also demonstrate that there is a genuine issue for trial.

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Bluebook (online)
74 Pa. D. & C.4th 270, 2005 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 125, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lieberger-v-walter-co-pactcomplfayett-2005.