O'Laughlin, J. v. Joseph, L.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 11, 2020
Docket1512 WDA 2019
StatusUnpublished

This text of O'Laughlin, J. v. Joseph, L. (O'Laughlin, J. v. Joseph, L.) 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
O'Laughlin, J. v. Joseph, L., (Pa. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

J-A12036-20

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

JOHN B. O'LAUGHLIN AND GRACE : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF VETERINARY CLINIC, INC. : PENNSYLVANIA : Appellants : : : v. : : : No. 1512 WDA 2019 LAURIE A. JOSEPH, DVM :

Appeal from the Judgment Entered October 18, 2019, in the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County, Civil Division at No(s): No. 4187 of 2015.

BEFORE: KUNSELMAN, J., KING, J., and COLINS, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY KUNSELMAN, J.: FILED AUGUST 11, 2020

Appellants, Dr. John B. O’Laughlin, DVM, and his business, Grace

Veterinary Clinic, Inc.,1 appeal from the judgment entered upon the jury

verdict, finding that Dr. O’Laughlin breached a contract to sell the assets of

that business. For the reasons below, we affirm.

Dr. O’Laughlin ran a veterinary practice for nearly two decades. At the

end of 2014, he contracted to sell its assets, real estate, and patient list to

Appellee, Dr. Laurie A. Joseph, DVM. The parties put their contract into writing

and signed it. According to the writing, Dr. O’Laughlin would still own the

business’s name, but Dr. Joseph could continue to use the name for six ____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

1 For simplicity sake, this Memorandum refers to them collectively as “Dr. O’Laughlin.” J-A12036-20

months after the sale. The parties’ disagreement over this written contract

has spawned civil actions in three counties.

Dr. Joseph filed the first legal action. On August 25, 2015, she sought

an injunction against Dr. O’Laughlin in Fayette County to block him from

violating a non-compete provision of the contract. Three days later, Dr.

O’Laughlin responded by filing this action in the Court of Common Pleas of

Westmoreland County. Then in 2017, Dr. O’Laughlin filed a malpractice suit

against the attorney who had drafted the contract in Allegheny County. Dr.

O’Laughlin asserted his former attorney’s “drafting of the contract and

representation . . . in selling [the assets] to Dr. Joseph fell below legal industry

standards.”2 O’Laughlin’s Brief at 9.

The injunction matter from Fayette County reached this court in the fall

of 2015 after that trial court granted Dr. Joseph an injunction. See Joseph

v. O’Laughlin, No. 1706 WDA 2015 (Pa. Super. 2017) (unpublished). 3 There,

Judge Musmanno described the facts as follows:

On December 23, 2014, [Drs.] O’Laughlin and Joseph executed an asset-transfer agreement (“the [contract]”) outlining [Dr.] Joseph’s purchase of the [clinic assets]. The [contract] included the following restrictive covenant:

____________________________________________

2 The Allegheny Court of Common Pleas eventually transferred that third suit to Westmoreland County. O’Laughlin v. Moore, No. GD-17-003506 (C.C.P. Allegheny 2017), trans. to No. 5578 of 2017 (C.C.P. Westmoreland 2017). The record does not appear to indicate the status of that action.

3Our decision in that prior appeal has precedential value as to the parties at bar. Pa.R.A.P. 126.

-2- J-A12036-20

[Dr.] O’Laughlin acknowledges and agrees that he will not be involved in any of the following activities at any location within 50 miles of the veterinary clinic (“Geographic Area”). [Dr.] O’Laughlin covenants and agrees that for a period of five years following the execution of this [contract], he shall not directly or indirectly . . . participate in any business or practice within the Geographic Area that is in competition in any manner whatsoever with the Buyer. Further, [Dr.] O’Laughlin shall not contact, solicit, or engage in any activity to contact or solicit, indirectly or directly, any client, past, present, or future, during that five year period.

[Contract], 12/24/14, ¶ 3. The restrictive covenant, which expire[d] on December 24, 2019, comprised $17,973.50 of the $750,000 sale price. Id. at ¶ 4.

Approximately six months later, on July 2, 2015, [Dr.] O’Laughlin filed a Petition for Special Exemption with the Fayette County Zoning Hearing Board, wherein he requested permissive use to operate a veterinary clinic at 114 Eannotti Road, Dawson Pennsylvania, which is approximately eight miles from [his prior clinic]. The zoning hearing was scheduled for August 26, 2015. Meanwhile, [Dr.] O’Laughlin formed a limited liability company (O’Laughlin Veterinary Services), created a Facebook page of the same name, and purchased equipment. The Facebook page included a link that advised followers that the clinic was, “coming soon,” and when activated, the link directed users to the business’s location on a map.

On August 25, 2015, [Dr.] Joseph filed an action for injunctive relief . . . to permanently enjoin [Dr.] O’Laughlin from operating a veterinary clinic and prohibit him from seeking the zoning variance that was scheduled for a hearing the following day. On the same date, [Dr.] Joseph filed a self-styled Motion for Preliminary/Permanent Injunction requesting the identical relief.

Joseph v. O’Laughlin, Memorandum at 1-3 (some punctuation omitted;

footnotes omitted). The Court of Common Pleas of Fayette County found Dr.

-3- J-A12036-20

O’Laughlin breached the non-compete clause and issued a permanent

injunction against him. This Court affirmed.4

In Count I of the instant suit, Dr. O’Laughlin claimed Dr. Joseph also

breached the written contract (1) by refusing to employ him following the

transfer of the assets to her, (2) by not repaying a PNC loan he claimed she

agreed to assume, and (3) by not making payments on a leased Heska blood

machine. In Count II, he sought a declaratory judgment that the non-compete

provision, i.e., the clause at issue in the Fayette County litigation, was invalid.5

Dr. Joseph filed a counterclaim for attorney’s fees. She alleged Count

II constituted “vexatious, obdurate, and . . . bad faith” litigation, because she

averred that her Fayette County action resolved Count II. Joseph’s Answer

and Counterclaim at 15.

Eventually, the parties tried this case before a Westmoreland County

jury. In preparation for trial, the parties filed motions in limine, two of which

are at issue in this appeal.

First, the trial court denied a motion in limine by Dr. O’Laughlin in which

he sought to prevent his former attorney from testifying against him, based ____________________________________________

4 Judge Bowes dissented. She reasoned that nothing in the non-compete clause of the contract prohibited Dr. O’Laughlin from laying the groundwork for a new veterinary clinic, so he could open a new clinic on the day when the non-compete provision expired.

5Dr. O’Laughlin also had a third count in his complaint seeking injunctive relief against Dr. Joseph. That claim is no longer in issue.

-4- J-A12036-20

on the attorney-client-privilege statute.6 The trial court ruled Dr. O’Laughlin

had waived the privilege when he sued his former attorney for malpractice

and published his version of their private conversations in a complaint that Dr.

O’Laughlin filed in the Department of Court Records of Allegheny County. At

trial, Dr. O’Laughlin’s former attorney testified that Dr. O’Laughlin never asked

him to include terms regarding the PNC loan or blood machine in the written

contract. See N.T., 5/9/19, at 623-25. Thus, the written contract did not

contain those terms.

Second, the trial court granted a motion in limine, which barred Dr.

O’Laughlin from presenting evidence of an alleged, oral contract for

employment between the parties.

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Bluebook (online)
O'Laughlin, J. v. Joseph, L., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/olaughlin-j-v-joseph-l-pasuperct-2020.