Mid Valley School District v. Warshawer

33 Pa. D. & C.5th 272
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lackawanna County
DecidedSeptember 17, 2013
DocketNo. 13 CV 1528
StatusPublished

This text of 33 Pa. D. & C.5th 272 (Mid Valley School District v. Warshawer) 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
Mid Valley School District v. Warshawer, 33 Pa. D. & C.5th 272 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2013).

Opinion

NEALON, J,

A school [274]*274district, which is embroiled in a payment dispute with a contractor who provided services on an elementary school construction project, has appealed an administrative determination directing the school district to grant the contractor’s counsel access to records pertaining to that construction project pursuant to the Right-to-Know Law (“RTKL”), 65 P.S. §§ 67.101-67.3104. The school district has raised the following issue which has not yet been decided under the RTKL: whether a document discovery restriction contained in the binding arbitration provisions of the parties’ construction contract bars the contractor’s agent from obtaining materials that would otherwise be discoverable as “public records” under the RTKL? The school district alternatively contends that it is not obligated to produce certain records that are in the possession of independent contractors rather than the school district.

As a public entity, the school district is subject to the public disclosure mandates of the RTKL, and those statutory directives supersede any contractual provisions which limit the litigants’ discovery rights to only those documents which the arbitrator compels a party to produce. Although the grant of access to the school construction project records may enable the contractor’s counsel to secure pre-arbitration discovery, the requester’s motive or intention in seeking the documents cannot serve as a valid basis for denying access to “public records” of the school district. Furthermore, to the extent that the instant RTKL requests seek the production of records in the custody of the project architect, construction manager or contractors, they are nevertheless discoverable “public records” under Section 506(d)(1) of the RTKL, 65 P.S. § 67.506(d)(1), since those third parties were contracted to perform the school district’s “governmental function” of constructing and providing suitable school facilities, and the records requested directly relate to the performance of that governmental function. As a consequence, the school [275]*275district’s appeal will be denied and it will be directed to produce the requested “public records” within thirty (30) days.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On August 3, 2011, Mar-Paul Construction, Inc. (“Mar-Paul”) entered into a $6,645,000.00 contract with Petitioner, Mid Valley School District (“the District”), to provide construction services in connection with the renovation of the Mid Valley Elementary School. (Docket entry no. 7, exhibit A). Section 6.2 of the construction agreement addresses “Binding Dispute Resolution” for any contract claims involving the District and Mar-Paul, and identifies “[arbitration pursuant to Section 15.4 of AIA Document A232-2009” as the exclusive “method of binding dispute resolution.” {Id. at p. 9). Section 13.1 of the construction contract is entitled “Governing Law,” and provides that “[t]he Contract shall be governed by the law of the place where the Project is located except that, if the parties have selected arbitration as the method of binding dispute resolution, the Federal Arbitration Act shall govern Section 15.4.” (Docket entry no. 7, exhibit B at p. 37).

Section 15.4 of AIA Document A232-2009 states that the arbitration of any such claims shall be governed “by the American Arbitration Association in accordance with its Construction Industry Arbitration Rules in effect on the date of the Agreement.” {Id. at p. 42). The American Arbitration Association Construction Industry Arbitration Rules (the “AAA Rules”) contain provisions regulating the parties’ “Exchange of Information,” and state that “the arbitrator may direct.. .the production of documents and other information” and “is authorized to resolve any disputes concerning the exchange of information.” (Docket entry no. 7, exhibit D at pp. 29-30). Section R-24(d) of the AAA Rules provides that “[tjhere shall be no other [276]*276discovery, except as indicated herein, unless so ordered by the arbitrator in exceptional cases.” (Id. at p. 30).

The construction agreement executed by Mar-Paul and the District includes specific completion dates for various phases of the construction work, and requires Mar-Paul to pay liquidated damages of $5,000.00 per day “for each consecutive day of delay until the work is substantially complete.” (Docket entry no. 7, exhibit A at p. 3). The Mid Valley Elementary School construction project experienced delays, and by letter dated March 26, 2012, Mar-Paul requested extensions of time relative to the completion dates for the “classroom addition” and “cafeteria addition” due to delays that allegedly “were beyond the control of Mar-Paul.” (Docket entry no. 7, exhibit C). The project construction manager, Palumbo Construction Management (“Palumbo”), advised the District and its solicitor that it had “preliminarily reviewed the contents and details” of Mar-Paul’s correspondence with the project architect, Burkavage Design Associates (“Burkavage”), and stated that Palumbo and Burkavage both “take issue with the contents and form” of Mar-PauPs letter requesting extensions of time. (Id. at p. 17). After Mar-Paul submitted an “Application and Certificate for Payment” to the District seeking payment of $305,999.75, the District transmitted a letter to Mar-Paul on December 17, 2012, stating that it was “withholding the amount of $305,999.75 from this Payment Application” to reflect set-offs attributable to “delay damages” and claims “for delay” that had been submitted by three subcontractors, Jerry Coyne Electrical Company, A. J. Demor & Sons, Inc., and Yannuzzi, Inc.1 (Docket entry no. 6, exhibits E and F).

[277]*277On the following day, December 18,2012, respondent, Sam L. Warshawer, Jr., Esquire (“Warshawer”), of the law firm of Venzie, Phillips & Warshawer, submitted a request to the District seeking the production of various records pursuant to the Pennsylvania RTKL. (Docket entry no. 1, exhibit D). Warshawer requested twenty six categories of records, not including subparts, concerning the Mid Valley Elementary School construction project. (Id. at pp. 4-7). It is undisputed that Warshawer serves as legal counsel to Mar-Paul. (Transcript of proceedings (“T.P.”) on 7/15/13 atpp. 34-35).

Although the District initially advised Warshawer that his records request “was under legal review,” it failed to timely respond to his request, such that Warshawer’s request was “deemed denied” under section 902(b)(2) of the RTKL, 65 P.S. § 69.902(b)(2).2 (Docket entry no. 1 at ¶¶ 11-12). On January 29,2013, Warshawer filed an appeal to the Office of Open Records (the “OOR”) pursuant to Section 1101 oftheRTKL, 65 P.S. § 67.1101. (Id. att 13). The sole argument raised by the District before the OOR was that the construction contract between Mar-Paul and the District obligated those parties to abide by the “binding discovery rules” set forth in the AAA Rules, which restrict the parties’ discovery rights to those documents that the arbitrator directs any party to produce. (Docket entry no. 1, exhibit A at pp. 2, 4-5). On February 28,2013, the OOR’s assigned appeals officer, J. Chadwick Schnee, Esq., issued a final determination granting Warshawer’s appeal based upon his conclusion “that a discovery agreement does not prohibit [Warshawer’s] use of the RTKL in the present [278]*278matter.” (Id. at p. 5). The OOR appeals officer further directed the District “to provide all responsive records within thirty (30) days.”

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Bluebook (online)
33 Pa. D. & C.5th 272, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mid-valley-school-district-v-warshawer-pactcompllackaw-2013.