Mammoccio v. 1818 Market Partnership

734 A.2d 23, 1999 Pa. Super. 144, 1999 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1808
Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided June 10, 1999·Published·Cited by 18 cases

Opinion

POPOVICH, J.:

¶ 1 This is an appeal from the order entered on June 1, 1998, by the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, which granted appellees’ motion for a new trial. In so ruling, the lower court vacated a jury verdict in favor of appellant in the amount of $1,800,000.00. Upon review, we reverse and remand for entry of judgment in favor of appellant Joann Mammoccio. Further, upon remand, the lower court must consider appellees’ outstanding motions for remittitur and appellant’s outstanding motion for delay damages.

¶ 2 Herein, appellant questions:
1. Did the trial court err in denying [appellant’s] motion to compel the prothonotary to enter judgment and strike [appellees’] Motion for Posb-Trial Relief where the [appellees] did not file their motion within ten (10) days of the jury’s verdict as required by Pa.R.C.P. 227.1(c)(1)?
2. Did the trial court err in awarding a new trial where the grounds asserted by [appellees] and relied upon by the trial court were not timely and properly raised by [appellees] during the trial as required by Pa. R.C.P. 227.1(b)(1)?
3. Did the trial court err and abuse its discretion in awarding a new trial on the ground that the [appellees] did not owe a legal duty to the [appellant]?
4. Did the trial court err and abuse its discretion in awarding a new trial on the ground that there was a lack of a causal relationship between the acts of [appellees] and [appellant’s] injuries?
5. Did the trial court err and abuse its discretion in awarding a new trial on the ground that the [appellant’s] own negligence caused her injuries?
6. Did the trial court err and abuse its discretion in awarding a new trial on the ground that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence?

Appellant’s Brief, P. 3.

¶ 3 Before addressing appellant’s first two assertions of error, we will set forth the procedural history of the case. On January 6, 1994, appellant, then 39 years old, sustained serious injuries when she fell from a ladder in a freight elevator shaft in the building located at 1818 Market Street, Philadelphia. At the time of her fall, she was employed as an elevator mechanic by Amtech Reliable Elevator Company (“Amtech”).

¶4 On September 1, 1994, appellant filed her complaint in which she alleged negligence on the part of appellee 1818 Market Partnership, the owner of the building, and appellee Heitman Pennsylvania Management Inc., the building manager. Appellant’s claims were tried before a jury from January 30-February 6, 1998, and the Honorable Paul Ribner of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas presided.1

[25]*25¶ 5 On February 6, 1998, the jury returned a verdict in favor of appellant and against appellees. The jury found that the appellees were negligent and that their negligence was a substantial factor in causing appellant’s injuries. The jury also expressly determined that appellant was not contributorily negligent. The jury then awarded damages in the amount of $1,800,-000 to appellant.

¶ 6 On February 11, 1998, appellant filed a petition for delay damages pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 288. The petition requested that the jury verdict be molded to reflect the addition of damages for delay in the amount of $408,710.93 for a total verdict of $2,208,710.93. On February 23, 1998, ap-pellees filed their opposition to appellant’s petition for delay damages. Since the lower court ordered a new trial, appellant’s petition for delay damages has not been adjudicated. See Pa.R.C.P. 238(e)(3)(i) (judgment may not be entered on a motion for delay damages until all timely post-trial motions have been decided).

¶ 7 On February 12, 1998, the “Court of Common Pleas Civil Trial Division Civil Trial Worksheet,” which was prepared by the trial judge on February 6, 1998, and which set forth the jury’s verdict, was docketed with the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. On February 18, 1998, twelve days after the jury rendered their verdict in open court and before ap-pellees filed their post-verdict motions, appellant filed a praecipe to enter judgment against appellees pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 227.4(l)(a). However, the prothonotary refused to do so. On February 19, 1998, appellees filed their motion for post-trial relief requesting judgment n.o.v., or, in the alternative, a new trial. That same day, appellant filed a motion to compel the pro-thonotary to enter judgment and to strike appellees’ motion for post-trial relief as untimely filed. The lower court expressly rejected appellant’s argument that appel-lees’ post-trial motions were untimely.

¶ 8 On June 1, 1998, the court entered an order granting appellees’ motion for post-trial relief and directing that a new trial be scheduled. Appellant filed this appeal from that order.2

¶ 9 Appellant first complains that the lower court erred in denying her motion to compel the prothonotary to enter judgment on the jury’s verdict and strike appellees’ post-trial motions. Upon review, we agree with appellant’s assertion that the prothonotary was required to enter judgment in her favor upon the filing of her praecipe on February 18, 1998. We also agree that appellees’ post-trial motions were untimely filed. However, we do not agree that the lower court was required to strike the motions.

¶ 10 Pa.R.C.P. 227.4(l)(a) is clear. “[T]he prothonotary shall, upon praecipe of a party: (1) enter judgment upon the verdict of a jury ... if (a) no timely post-trial motion is filed[.]” Pa.R.C.P. 227.1(a) is also clear. “Posh-Trial motions shall be filed within ten days after (1) verdict, discharge of the jury because of inability to agree, or nonsuit in the case of a jury trial[.]” Presently, appellees did not file their motions for post-trial relief until February 19, 1998, thirteen days after the jury rendered its verdict in appellant’s favor. Therefore, no timely post-trial motion was filed when appellant filed her praecipe on February 18, 1998, the day before appel-lees’ untimely post-trial motion was filed. Accordingly, the prothonotary was required to perform his ministerial task and enter judgment on the verdict.

¶ 11 The lower court cites Papalia v. Montour Auto Service Co., 452 Pa.Super. 395, 682 A.2d 343 (1996), in support of its holding that the ten day period for fifing [26]*26appellees’ post-trial motions as set forth in Pa.R.C.P. 227.1(c) did not begin to run until February 12, 1998, when the “Civil Trial Worksheet” was docketed with the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. Thus, the trial court submits that appellees’ post-trial motion was timely because it was filed only seven days after the “Civil Trial Worksheet” was docketed. We disagree and find that the holding of Papalia, supra, does not control the present case.

¶ 12 In Papalia, supra, the lower court, pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 218, granted an involuntary nonsuit against the plaintiffs when they were unprepared to proceed with the trial on October 24, 1994.3 The order granting the nonsuit was not filed with the prothonotary until November 2, 1994. On November 14,1994, plaintiffs, pursuant to Pa.R.C.P.

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Mammoccio v. 1818 Market Partnership, 734 A.2d 23, 1999 Pa. Super. 144, 1999 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1808 (Pa. Ct. App. 1999).

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