Long v. City of Scranton

39 Pa. D. & C.4th 330, 1998 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 128
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lackawanna County
DecidedAugust 7, 1998
Docketno. 91-CIV-2281
StatusPublished

This text of 39 Pa. D. & C.4th 330 (Long v. City of Scranton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lackawanna County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Long v. City of Scranton, 39 Pa. D. & C.4th 330, 1998 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 128 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1998).

Opinion

CORBETT, J.,

Before the court is plaintiff’s motion for new trial. Plaintiff is Thomas Long Sr. Defendant is the City of Scranton. Oral argument was heard before this court on July 21, 1998. Briefs have been submitted and the matter is now ripe for disposition.

Plaintiff brought suit on April 18, 1991, for injuries he received when he was struck by one of defendant’s police cruisers driven by Police Officer Kenneth Morgan. On May 10,1989, plaintiff was struck while crossing the street near the intersection of Luzerne Street and 9th Avenue in the City of Scranton. Plaintiff suffered numerous injuries as a result of the accident, including a severely broken leg. Plaintiff received emergency care treatment from Community Medical Center Hospital where he came under the care of orthopedic surgeon Edwin S. Malloy M.D. Dr. Malloy performed a series of surgeries on plaintiff’s right leg.

The case was tried before a jury between October 7 and October 9, 1996, the Honorable Judge Eagen presiding. Following the trial, the jury returned a verdict in plaintiff’s favor awarding him damages of $34,282.35. The special interrogatory verdict form reflects that the jury awarded $24,282.35 for past and present medical expenses and $10,000 for past, present and future lost earnings and lost earning capacity. The jury found defendant 51 percent negligent and plaintiff 49 percent contributorily negligent. Accordingly, on October 25, 1996, the court entered an order molding the verdict to $14,348.35.

[332]*332DISCUSSION

Plaintiff seeks a new trial, limited to damages only, on the grounds that the jury verdict is against the great weight of the evidence such that it should shock the conscience of this court. Plaintiff argues that the jury award of solely economic damages reflects an inadequate verdict in light of uncontroverted evidence that plaintiff suffered a broken leg and underwent several surgeries. Also, plaintiff contends that the evidence of the pain he experienced was uncontradicted and corroborated by defendant’s expert witness. Moreover, plaintiff contends that the jury’s failure to award noneconomic damages defies common sense in light of the fact that the jury awarded damages for plaintiff’s past and present medical expenses and past and present lost wages. Finally, plaintiff posits that the issue of liability was fairly determined, and a new trial should be granted on the issue of damages only.

On the other hand, defendant claims that the jury award reflects a permissible compromise verdict and should not be disturbed. Defendant argues the jury obviously disbelieved plaintiff’s evidence regarding his pain and suffering and the verdict reflects the jury’s attempt to compensate plaintiff for at least some of his injuries. Accordingly, defendant asserts that the verdict must stand.

Alternatively, defendant argues that should this court determine a new trial is warranted, then it must be as to all issues because both liability and damages were hotly contested at trial.

DISCUSSION

It is well settled in Pennsylvania that the granting of a new trial on the grounds of inadequacy of damages is a matter within the sound discretion of the trial court. Dougherty v. McLaughlin, 432 Pa. Super. 129, 133, [333]*333637 A.2d 1017, 1019 (1994). “A trial court may only grant a new trial when the jury’s verdict is so contrary to the evidence that it ‘shocks one’s sense of justice.’” Neison v. Hines, 539 Pa. 516, 520, 653 A.2d 634, 636 (1995); see also, Kiser v. Schulte, 538 Pa. 219, 226, 648 A.2d 1, 4 (1994).

A verdict may be set aside “when, and only when, it is so inadequate as to indicate passion, prejudice, partiality, or corruption ... or where it clearly appears from [the] uncontradicted evidence that the amount of the verdict bears no reasonable relation to the loss suffered by the plaintiff . . . .” Dougherty, supra at 133-34, 637 A.2d at 1019. (emphasis added) Moreover, victims must be compensated for all that they lose and all that they suffer from the tort of another. Neison, at 523, 653 A.2d at 638; Boggavarapu v. Ponist, 518 Pa. 162, 167, 542 A.2d 516, 518 (1988).

In Dougherty, the plaintiff sought recovery for injuries he received from an accident while riding as a passenger in defendant’s car. At trial, plaintiff introduced uncontradicted medical evidence with respect to his hospitalization and subsequent surgeries to treat his wounds and correct the resulting scar tissue. The jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff and awarded damages solely for unreimbursed medical expenses and zero damages for pain and suffering. The trial court granted plaintiff’s post-trial motion for additur, thereby increasing the jury’s damage award to include compensation for pain and suffering. Both parties appealed.

On appeal, the Superior Court held that the trial court committed error in granting additur to adjust the jury’s damage award where it determined the verdict was inadequate. Dougherty at 134, 637 A.2d at 1020. In reversing the trial court, the Superior Court held that the proper remedy is to grant a new trial where it determines that the jury’s damage award is inadequate. Id. at 135, 637 A.2d at 1020. In determining whether [334]*334a jury award is inadequate, the court reasoned, “[wjhere a jury awards a plaintiff his medical expenses, they make a finding that the expenses were related to defendant’s actions in injuring plaintiff. Catalano v. Bujak, 148 Pa. Commw. 269, 611 A.2d 314 (1992), alloc. granted, 534 Pa. 642, 626 A.2d 1159 (1993). However, by not awarding any pain and suffering, the jury also makes a finding that the plaintiff did not suffer as a result of his injuries and subsequent surgery. Id. Such findings are inherently inconsistent.” Id. at 134, 637 A.2d at 1020.

There, the Superior Court held that the trial court properly instructed the jurors that if they found the defendant liable to plaintiff, then they must compensate plaintiff for all injuries sustained as a result of the accident. Id. The fact that the jury awarded damages for medical expenses and not for pain and suffering was clearly inconsistent and therefore inadequate. Id. Accordingly, a new trial was ordered.

Similarly, in the present case, the trial court properly instructed the jury on the nature and type of compensable damages. The fact that the jury awarded plaintiff damages for his past and present medical expenses and past, present and future lost wages and lost earning capacity, while awarding zero damages for pain and suffering, is inherently inconsistent and inadequate.

Moreover, our Supreme Court has held that there are certain injuries which human experience teaches there is accompanying pain. Boggavarapu at 167, 542 A.2d at 519, citing Todd v. Bercini, 371 Pa. 605, 92 A.2d 538 (1952).

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Related

Kiser v. Schulte
648 A.2d 1 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1994)
Boggavarapu v. Ponist
542 A.2d 516 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1988)
Chiaverini v. Sewickley Valley Hospital
598 A.2d 1021 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1991)
Dougherty v. McLaughlin
637 A.2d 1017 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1994)
Neison v. Hines
653 A.2d 634 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1995)
GAGLIANO v. Ditzler
263 A.2d 319 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1970)
Todd v. Bercini
92 A.2d 538 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1952)
Nogowski v. Alemo-Hammad
691 A.2d 950 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1997)
Catalano v. Bujak
611 A.2d 314 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1992)

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Bluebook (online)
39 Pa. D. & C.4th 330, 1998 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 128, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/long-v-city-of-scranton-pactcompllackaw-1998.