Quinones v. Township of Upper Moreland

199 F. Supp. 758, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2998
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 6, 1961
DocketCiv. A. No. 23521
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 199 F. Supp. 758 (Quinones v. Township of Upper Moreland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Quinones v. Township of Upper Moreland, 199 F. Supp. 758, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2998 (E.D. Pa. 1961).

Opinion

WOOD, District Judge.

In this action we are asked to direct the entry of judgment in accordance with the mandate of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit1 293 F.2d 237 in an action originally tried by our late colleague Judge Egan, D.C., 187 F.Supp. 260. A dispute has arisen between the plaintiff and the original defendant relative to their respective rights in the judgment to be entered as directed by the Appellate Court.

The facts as set forth in plaintiff’s brief, which are not in dispute, are as follows:

This action was brought by Joaquina . Quinones, widow of and Administratrix of the estate of Sixto Quinones, in accordance with the provisions of the Wrongful Death and Survival Statutes of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The action sought to recover damages for the death of Sixto Quinones, which was the result of an accident which occurred in the course of excavation work in Upper Moreland Township on August 21, 1957. By leave of Court, Patrick J. McCabe, James McCabe, Sr. and Bernard McCabe, individually and as co-partners trading as McCabe Brothers, were made parties to the action by means of a third-party complaint filed by the original defendants, Township of Upper Moreland and Miles Potter, the Township engineer. At the time of the accident, Quinones was an employee of third-party defendants who were excavating and constructing a sewer for defendant Township.

The case was tried before the Honorable Thomas C. Egan and a jury on March 29 and 30, 1960. In the Wrongful Death and Survival Action the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff in the amount of $35,000. In the third-party action, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the third-party defendants.

The original defendants, Township and Potter, filed various post-trial motions. The net result of these was that the judgment in favor of the plaintiff against the defendant, Township of Upper Moreland, was sustained, the judgment in favor of the plaintiff against defendant Potter was vacated by judgment n. o. v. in favor of Potter, and a judgment n. o. v. was also entered in favor of the third-party plaintiff Township of Upper Moreland against the third-party defendants for contribution to the extent of third-party defendant’s workmen’s compensation liability. Judge Egan also ordered that the total amount of third-party defendant’s workmen’s compensation liability was to be deducted from the judgment in favor of plaintiff and that the judgment so reduced should be subject to execution. Judge Egan’s opinion is reported at 187 F.Supp. 260.

Defendant, Township of Upper More-land, then appealed the case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third [760]*760Circuit. A cross appeal was filed by the plaintiff to the judgment n. o. v. in favor of Potter. In an opinion reported at 293 F.2d 237, the Circuit Court, speaking through Judge Kalodner, affirmed the plaintiff’s judgment in the amount of $35,000 against the Township. “The judgment n. o. v. in favor of Potter was likewise affirmed. In addition, the judgment entered by Judge Egan in favor of the third-party plaintiff Township against the third-party defendants McCabe Brothers was vacated with directions to enter judgment n. o. v. in favor of the Township to the full extent of its liability under the judgment in favor of the plaintiff, when it had satisfied that judgment by payment to the plaintiff.

The issue to be decided by us lies solely between plaintiff and original defendant as it may be affected by the obligations under the Pennsylvania Workmen’s Compensation Act applicable to the employer Patrick McCabe, et al., the third-party defendant.

In the case of Latimir Dowhy v. Harvey B. Moyer, Inc., Defendant and Third-Party Plaintiff, v. Eastern Engineering Company, Third-Party Defendant, 184 F.Supp. 31, (E.D.Pa.1960), Judge Kirkpatrick held that the rule of Maio v. Fahs, 339 Pa. 180, 14 A.2d 105, was not applicable because the Workmen’s Compensation Act of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania had been amended several times since that case was decided. He stated that since the Act of 1951, May 29, P.L. 507, 77 P.S. § 671, there remains no doubt that by virtue of the amendment the employee is entitled to a pro rata counsel fee measured by the amount of the employer’s liability to him for compensation whether the compensation has been paid or not. In support of this position he cited Solida v. Hires-Turner Glass Co., 187 Pa.Super. 44,. 142 A.2d 425.

In the Dowhy case, supra, there had been a verdict recovered of $25,000, and the original defendant had paid into the registry of the Court the amount of $18,643.71, representing $25,000, less the amount already paid by .the employer to plaintiff as compensation, together with costs and interest. The defendant then moved to have the judgment satisfied. Judge Kirkpatrick denied the motion on the ground that since the Act of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania clearly set forth that the third-party defendant was responsible for counsel fees, defendant was not entitled to satisfaction of the judgment until he had paid the full amount of plaintiff’s verdict into the registry of the Court, which had not been done. Judge Kirkpatrick stated:

“His judgment can be satisfied under these circumstances only by a full payment of it, and he must then be left to enforce his judgment for contribution against the employer. Of course, this means that the employer will then recover from the employee such sum as he is entitled to. Unfortunately, this does not avoid circuity of actions, but since we are dealing with unliquidated amounts, the Court can do nothing about it.” (At p. 33 of 184 F.Supp.)

An appeal was taken from the denial of the motion for a direction of satisfaction of judgment to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and in a decision per curiam, after a hearing before Judges Goodrich, McLaughlin and' Staley; (278 F.2d 753, decided May 16, 1960), the Third Circuit held as follows:

“In effect, this is an attempt on the part of the original defendant to utilize the right of subrogation which is granted by statute to the employer. But the statute expressly provides that the-employer is not only liable for compensation' payments but also for a proportionate share of counsel fees. Even assuming that the original defendant (the non-employer) can utilize the employer’s right of subrogation in satisfaction of its claim for contribution against the employer as a joint tortfeasor, as we have noted above, the statutory amount that the employer can recover under this right is the amount of payments of compensation less a prorata share of counsel fees. All of this was thoroughly [761]*761analyzed and covered in the opinion of Judge Kirkpatrick in the District Court, 184 F.Supp. 31, with which we fully agree.” (At p. 755)

In our case, we have another problem.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
199 F. Supp. 758, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2998, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/quinones-v-township-of-upper-moreland-paed-1961.