Rega, R. v. U.P.M.C. Community Health

Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided June 22, 2023·No. 194 WDA 2022·Unpublished

Opinion

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT OP 65.37

ROBERT GENE REGA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA

Appellant :

:

:

v. :

:

:

U.P.M.C. COMMUNITY HEALTH : No. 194 WDA 2022 CHOICES; MELODEE HURSEY; : SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA : AREA AGENCY ON AGING; HELENA : SNYDER; COMPATI HOME : HEALTHCARE; JAY CINCINNATI; : RUTHI HOOPER; KIMMEY MILLER; : AND MARY-ANN (L.N.U.) :

Appeal from the Order Entered January 19, 2022 In the Court of Common Pleas of Greene County Civil Division at No: No. 05 CV 2020

ROBERT GENE REGA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA

Appellant :

:

:

v. :

:

:

U.P.M.C. COMMUNITY HEALTH : No. 354 WDA 2022 CHOICES, MELODEE HURSEY, : SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA : AREA AGENCY ON AGING, HELENA : SNYDER, COMPATI HOME : HEALTHCARE, JAY CINCINATTI, : RUTHI HOOPER, KIMMEY MILLER, : AND MARY-ANN (L.N.U.) :

Appeal from the Order Entered January 20, 2022 In the Court of Common Pleas of Greene County Civil Division at No: No. 05 CV 2020

BEFORE: STABILE, J., SULLIVAN, J., and PELLEGRINI, J.* MEMORANDUM BY STABILE, J.: FILED: JUNE 22, 2023 In these consolidated appeals, Appellant, Robert Gene Rega (“Appellant”

or “Rega”), appeals pro se from orders entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Greene County dismissing Appellant’s Second Amended Complaint after the court sustained preliminary objections filed by Appellees, Southwestern Pennsylvania Area Agency on Aging (“SWPAAA”) and Helena Snyder (collectively “SWPAAA Appellees”) (“January 19, 2022 Order”), and by Appellees Compati Home Health Care, Jay Cincinnati, Ruthi Hooper, Kimmey Miller, and Mary-Ann (L.N.U.) (collectively “Compati Appellees”) (“January 20, 2022 Order”).1 Following review, we affirm.

In the opinion issued in conjunction with each order, the trial court explained:

[Appellant] is the Plaintiff. Joan Mary Rega is his mother. Rega indicated that he has a valid power of attorney for his mother. He is incarcerated in the Department of Corrections and is currently housed at SCI-Phoenix. Although incarcerated, Rega claims his residence as 408 Mountainview Drive, Waynesburg, PA 15370. He is serving a life sentence concurrent with a sentence of death that

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

1 By separate order entered January 19, 2022, the trial court sustained preliminary objections and dismissed the Second Amended Complaint in favor of named Appellees, U.P.M.C. Community Health Plan and Melodee Hursey (collectively “UPMC Appellees”). Appellant did not file an appeal from that order.

has been imposed [in a separate federal criminal proceeding]. [2]

The court now determines that the preliminary objections will turn on agency law and also whether Rega has a valid power of attorney.

The court previously ruled at a separate docket number and term [] that the power of attorney Rega possesses is invalid. That opinion has been affirmed by the Pennsylvania Superior Court and certiorari was denied by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.[3] []

We note also that Rega is bringing his claim on his own behalf and not on behalf of his mother. The court determines that this generally violates the basic principles of agency law.

[The trial court proceeded to identify each of the parties named in Appellant’s Second Amended Complaint. For our purposes, it is sufficient to note that Helena Snyder was employed by SWPAAA as a caseworker and that the remaining individually-named Compati Appellees were employees of that entity, a provider of home health services to Medicare/Medicaid participants, including Appellant’s mother.]

Rega brought this cause of action claiming violations of the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions[.] In each count Rega requests $1,000,000 jointly and severally, court costs, costs of litigation, attorney fees, prejudgment and post-judgment interest.

Rega’s Complaint is over 100 pages and includes 10 separate counts. . . . Rega’s Second Amended Complaint is generally complaining of allegations surrounding, his mother, Ms. Rega’s home care.

2 In an unreported decision dated February 15, 2018, the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania determined that Appellant was entitled to a new capital sentencing hearing. Rega v. Wetzel, 2018 WL 897126 (W.D.Pa. 2018). Appellant has not directed our attention to anything in the record that reflects the outcome of a new hearing. There is no suggestion, however, that he is serving anything short of a life sentence.

3 Rega v. A Bridge to Independence, No. 151 WDA 2021, unpublished memorandum (Pa. Super. filed July 2, 2021), appeal denied, 270 A.3d 1105 (Pa. 2022).

January 19, 2022 Opinion and Order at 2-4; January 20, 2022 Opinion and Order at 2-5 (references to Second Amended Complaint and some capitalization omitted).

In each opinion and order, the trial court addressed Appellees’ respective preliminary objections to the counts in Appellant’s Second Amended Complaint. The court prefaced its analysis by noting that Appellant claimed that his mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s and dementia, was the victim of theft by her care providers, prompting Appellant to have security cameras installed in her apartment. Essentially, he claimed that various care providers interfered with his ability to monitor and contact his mother by, inter alia, removing the surveillance cameras and restricting her access to her telephone. He also contended that providers stole his mother’s identification and social security information and changed her debit card account and corresponding PIN number.

The court summarized each of the ten counts in Appellant’s 282-

paragraph complaint, identifying them as follows: Count 1: Fourth Amendment Search and Seizure; Count 2: First Amendment Free Speech; Count 3: Intentional Interference with a Contract; Count 4: Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress; Count 5: Negligence/Gross Negligence; Count 6: Policy, Custom, Practice or Culture; Count 7: Conspiracy; Count 8: Failure to Comply with Directives; Count 9: Trespass; and Count 10: Punitive

Damages. January 19, 2022 Opinion and Order at 6-8; January 20, 2022 Opinion and Order at 6-9.

Appellant filed timely appeals from the trial court’s orders. Both Appellant and the trial court complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925. This Court consolidated the appeals by order entered April 28, 2022.

Appellant presents four issues for our consideration:

A. Whether the trial court committed an error of law and/or abused its discretion by issuing a boilerplate decision/opinion which failed to provide any legal basis or cite any authorities in support of granting [Appellant’s] motion(s) for preliminary objections.

B. Whether the trial court committed an error of law and/or abused its discretion by failing to decide whether Appellant had legal standing to claim the residence in [question] as his personal residence, so that the court could deny relief on Appellant’s cause(s) of action(s).

C. Whether the trial court committed an error of law and/or abused its discretion by concluding Appellant failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted for all cause(s) of action(s) against [the SWPAAA Appellees] despite Appellant’s right as a resident to assert such a claim on his own behalf nothwithstanding (sic) the validity of Appellant’s power of attorney.

D. Whether the trial court committed an error or law or abused its discretion by concluding Appellant failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted for all cause(s) of action(s) against [the Compati Appellees] despite Appellant’s right as a resident to assert such a claim on his own behalf nothwithstanding (sic)

the validity of Appellant’s power of attorney.

Appellant’s Brief at 5.

We begin by setting forth our standard and scope of review. In Caltagirone v. Cephalon, Inc., 190 A.3d 596 (Pa. Super. 2018), this Court reiterated:

Our standard of review of an order granting preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer is well-settled:

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Rega, R. v. U.P.M.C. Community Health, (Pa. Ct. App. 2023).

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