McCarthy,M. v. Driscoll Construction

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 19, 2014
Docket492 EDA 2013
StatusUnpublished

This text of McCarthy,M. v. Driscoll Construction (McCarthy,M. v. Driscoll Construction) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McCarthy,M. v. Driscoll Construction, (Pa. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

J-A21007-14

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

MICHAEL MCCARTHY, IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA v.

DRISCOLL CONSTRUCTION CO. INC., L.F. DRISCOLL CONSTRUCTION CO. L.L.C.,

V.

THE NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION D/B/A AMTRAK,

APPEAL OF: DRISCOLL CONSTRUCTION CO. INC.,

Appellant No. 492 EDA 2013

Appeal from the Order January 4, 2013 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Civil Division at No(s): No. 110103903

DRISCOLL CONSTRUCTION CO. INC., L.F. DRISCOLL CONSTRUCTION CO. L.L.C.,

Appellant No. 496 EDA 2013 J-A21007-14

Appeal from the Order January 28, 2013 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Civil Division at No(s): No. 110103904

BEFORE: BOWES, OTT, and STRASSBURGER,* JJ.

MEMORANDUM BY BOWES, J.: FILED NOVEMBER 19, 2014

Driscoll Construction Co. Inc. and L.F. Driscoll Construction Co. L.L.C.

(“Driscoll”) filed these appeals from two orders entered by the trial court on

January 4, 2013, and January 28, 2013, respectively. The January 4 th order

denied Driscoll’s post-trial motion,1 which was filed following a jury award in

favor of Appellee Michael McCarthy, and the January 28, 2013 order resolved

a pending motion for indemnification filed by Mr. McCarthy. After careful

review, we affirm. ____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. 1 We observe that an appeal properly lies from judgment entered on a jury verdict rather than from denial of a post-trial motion filed after the verdict was rendered. Grossi v. Travelers Personal Ins. Co., 79 A.3d 1141, 1145 n.1 (Pa.Super. 2013). The certified record contains no indication that judgment was entered after the denial of Driscoll’s post-trial motion. However, we are permitted to regard the judgment as having been entered and entertain the merits of the appeal from the January 4, 2013 order. Id. This construct promotes judicial economy since, if we quashed this appeal, judgment could be entered and another appeal would simply be filed. Fanning v. Davne, 795 A.2d 388, 392 (Pa.Super. 2002); see also McCormick v. Northeast Bank of Pa., 561 A.2d 328, 330 n.1 (Pa. 1989) (order dismissing motion for post-trial relief was not reduced to judgment; in the interests of judicial economy, the Supreme Court regarded as done what should have been done, i.e., reduction of the verdict to judgment, and proceeded to entertain merits of appeal). Therefore, we will consider the judgment as having been entered and address the merits of the appeal from the order denying the post-trial motion.

-2- J-A21007-14

On January 28, 2011, Mr. McCarthy instituted this personal injury

action against Driscoll to recover for injuries that he sustained after he fell

on January 29, 2009, at a train station on 30th Street in Philadelphia.

Mr. McCarthy slipped and fell on ice pooled on the floor inside the station

and injured his shoulder and knee. At the time, Mr. McCarthy was working

as a Building System Specialist for the National Railroad Passenger

Corporation (“Amtrak”). The station in question was owned by Amtrak.

Driscoll was conducting construction in the station, and Mr. McCarthy alleged

that its negligence caused the ice to accumulate on the floor. Driscoll

thereafter joined Amtrak as an additional defendant and averred that

Amtrak’s negligence was the legal cause of the hazardous condition in

question.

Mr. McCarthy previously settled any potential claim against Amtrak in

an August 17, 2010 release that Mr. McCarthy executed in exchange for

$150,000. Deducted from the gross settlement was $8,447, which was paid

to satisfy a lien against Mr. McCarthy in favor of the Railroad Retirement

Board, as well as $7,237.14 for benefit amounts paid by Amtrak pursuant to

a Supplemental Sickness Plan.

The case proceeded to a jury trial where Mr. McCarthy received a

verdict in the amount of $200,000. The jury apportioned liability sixty

percent to Driscoll and forty percent to Amtrak, and the verdict against

-3- J-A21007-14

Driscoll was reduced to $120,000 to reflect that apportionment of liability.

Driscoll filed a timely post-trial motion.

On December 10, 2012, Amtrak filed a motion against Mr. McCarthy

seeking its counsel fees and costs of $11,397.23, which it incurred in

defending this case. It sought reimbursement pursuant to the August 17,

2010 release, wherein Mr. McCarthy agreed to indemnify Amtrak from any

and all claims filed against Amtrak and arising from the January 29, 2009

accident.

Mr. McCarthy responded to Amtrak’s request and also sought

indemnification against Driscoll for an additional $252,716.58. Driscoll was

served with that motion, which, on the cover sheet, had a clearly marked

response date of December 31, 2012. The indemnification request was

premised upon an agreement that Driscoll entered into with Amtrak and that

inured to the benefit of Mr. McCarthy, as an Amtrak employee. Driscoll

never responded to Mr. McCarthy’s motion for indemnification.

On January 4, 2013, the trial court denied Driscoll’s motion for post-

trial relief, and on January 28, 2013, it resolved the outstanding request for

attorney’s fees filed by Amtrak as well as Mr. McCarthy’s unopposed motion

for indemnification. The January 28, 2013 order required Mr. McCarthy to

pay Amtrak attorney’s fees and costs, and granted the motion for

indemnification filed by Mr. McCarthy.

-4- J-A21007-14

Driscoll filed two appeals, one from the denial its post-trial motion and

the other one from the January 28, 2013 order awarding Mr. McCarthy an

additional $252,716.58. On February 4, 2013, Driscoll also filed a motion for

reconsideration of the January 28, 2013 order, but that motion was

dismissed due to Driscoll’s appeal. Pa.R.A.P. 1701(a) (with exceptions not

applicable herein, “after an appeal is taken or review of a quasijudicial order

is sought, the trial court or other government unit may no longer proceed

further in the matter”).

In these appeals, Driscoll raises the following contentions:

I. Did the Court erroneously limit Appellant's cross examination of the Appellee after Appellee's counsel impermissibly introduced the issue of collateral source benefits during Appellee's testimony?

II. Did the Court erroneously fail to grant the Appellant's Motions for Mistrial when Appellee's counsel continued to misrepresent the law with respect to Appellee’s entitlement to benefits under the Federal Employees Liability Act?

III. Did the Court erroneously grant Appellee's self-styled cross Motion for Indemnification against Appellant when Appellant had filed no motion against Appellee, and there was no motion properly before the Court and the cross motion was totally lacking in merit on its face?

IV. Did the Court err and abuse its discretion when it allowed the use of income tax returns to refresh Appellee’s recollection when said returns were not produced in discovery, and not listed in Plaintiff’s Pretrial Memorandum and when the Court's Pretrial Order expressly forbade the use of any document not so identified?

V.

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