Scranton Laminated Label, Inc. v. Florimonte

28 Pa. D. & C.5th 502
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lackawanna County
DecidedApril 4, 2013
DocketNo. 10-CV-2325
StatusPublished

This text of 28 Pa. D. & C.5th 502 (Scranton Laminated Label, Inc. v. Florimonte) 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
Scranton Laminated Label, Inc. v. Florimonte, 28 Pa. D. & C.5th 502 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2013).

Opinion

NEALON, J.,

After a jury found defendant liable for wrongful use of civil proceedings against her former employer and awarded $45,000.00 in compensatory and punitive damages, defendant filed a motion for post-trial relief based upon certain evidentiary rulings, allegedly perjurious testimony by her former employer and his counsel, and the proximity of the undersigned’s office to the chambers of another judge who dismissed three of defendant’s nine other pro se lawsuits that have been summarily dismissed by Lackawanna County judges. Defendant contends that the evidentiary rulings and alleged perjury warrant the grant of a new trial, [504]*504and that the location of two judicial chambers necessitates the post-trial transfer of this case to another venue.

The evidence introduced at trial was properly limited to matters that were relevant to those claims that defendant asserted in her unsuccessful administrative and civil proceedings, which her employer maintains that she initiated and pursued without probable cause and for an improper purpose. Defendant’s allegations of perjury were previously asserted by her at trial and rejected by the jury, and have no support in the trial record. Defendant’s claims of bias by another Lackawanna County jurist have twice been repudiated by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, and any alleged bias by that judge cannot be imputed to another judge based upon the geographic contiguity of their offices. Consequently, defendant’s motion for post-trial relief will be denied.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Edmund J. Carr (“Carr”) is the owner and operator of plaintiff Scranton Laminated Label, Inc. (“Scranton Label”), which has manufactured and sold pressure-sensitive labels to industrial clients since 1969. (Transcript of proceedings (“T.P.”) on 11/26/12, pp. 72-73, 87). Scranton Label currently employs twenty-seven full-time employees and seven part-time employees, and twenty of those employees have worked for Scranton Label for more than twenty years. {Id. at pp. 73-74). Defendant Carolyn J. Florimonte (“Florimonte”) was originally employed as a customer service representative with Scranton Label from November 1990 to January 1996. (Docket entry no. 43 at p.4). Following an almost four year hiatus, she resumed employment with Scranton [505]*505Label on August 16, 1999, and remained employed there until her discharge on April 18,2003. (T.P. 11/27/12 atpp. 14-15,87,196; T.P. 11/28/12 atp. 34; Plaintiffs exhibit no. 2).

Although Scranton Label’s work force is compromised entirely of at-will employees, Florimonte presented an employment contract to Carr within two weeks of resuming her employment in August 1999. (T.P. 11/26/12 at pp. 80-81; T.P. 11/27/12 at pp. 36-38). Carr declined to sign Florimonte’s proposed contract since it stated “that if [Carr] ever fired [Florimonte], [Carr] would have to pay her, up until the time she was 65 years old, the amount that she was making at that time.” (T.P. 11/26/12 at p. 81). While other Scranton Label sales personnel had individual sales which exceeded $1,000,000.00 per year, Florimonte’s sales were consistently only $130,000.00/ year and “weren’t enough to sustain her expenses.” (Id. at pp. 86-87). Despite the fact that Florimonte “was always arguing [and] always combative with people,” (Id. at p. 83), Carr “always had hope that someday somehow she was going to get on board with what we were doing and be able to sell like” the other Scranton Label sales staff. (Id. at 88).

Current and former employees of Scranton Label described Florimonte as a belligerent and confrontational co-worker who frequently engaged in aberrant behavior. Scranton Label’s general manager, John DeLeo, characterized Florimonte as a “difficult person” who “fought everybody along the way, including customers.” (T.P. 11/27/12 at pp. 147-148). An ex-customer representative at Scranton Label, Karen J. Doyle, stated that Florimonte’s “very strange” conduct included “talking [506]*506out loud to [her] self,” “being rude” with customers, and interrupting Ms. Doyle while she was speaking on the phone with customers. (T.P. 11/26/12 at pp. 55, 66, 68-69). Ms. Doyle indicated that Florimonte was an incessant complainer who even criticized Carr for having Scranton Label’s sidewalks shoveled, rather than heated, during inclement weather. (Id. at p. 49).

According to a former Scranton Label secretary, Amy Ayers, Florimonte “was always watching what everybody else was doing,” and “would always correct you...even if it wasn’t in her department.” (T.P. 11/27/12 at p. 108). Florimonte also reportedly had a habit of “always talking about other people” to their fellow employees. (Id. at p. 116). Scranton Label’s general manager indicated that “other employees of Scranton Label would shy away from [Florimonte] because she would talk down to them [and] embarrass them on a daily basis.” (Id. at p. 150).

In the spring of 2003, Florimonte developed a subjective belief that Carr and her co-workers had installed surveillance devices in her company car and at her work station. On April 11, 2003, Florimonte hand-delivered a letter dated April 10, 2003, to Carr’s office as she departed for a one week vacation. (T.P. 11/26/12 at pp. 89-90; T.P. 11/27/12 atpp. 10, 172-173; T.P. 11/28/12 at p. 25). Florimonte’s letter to Carr opened by stating that “I would like you to remove the listening devices from my car... [a]nd since you are so anxious to know my every movement and innermost thoughts, I thought I would share them with you.” (Plaintiffs’ exhibit no. 1 at p.l; T.P. 11/26/12 at p. 90; T.P. 11/27/12 at p. 80). The remainder of her two page, singled-spaced letter contained criticisms and accusations regarding other Scranton Label [507]*507employees, including Carr’s own son. (Plaintiffs’ exhibit no. 1 atpp. 1-2; T.P. 11/26/12 atpp. 91-99; T.P. 11/27/12 at pp. 172-173). Florimonte’s correspondence concluded by stating “[i]f you want to fire me, do it,” but “[i]f I stay, I’d appreciate more vacation time and a serious increase in salary and your assurance that this nonsense is over.” (Plaintiffs’ exhibit no. 1 at p. 2).

Upon reviewing Florimonte’s letter, Carr contacted Florimonte to arrange for a surveillance expert to inspect her company vehicle for listening devices, even though he considered her allegations “ludicrous” and “offensive.” (T.P. 11/27/12 at pp. 11-12, 24-25, 175). Carr instructed Florimonte to secure the vehicle so that it could be inspected by a retired state trooper and Lackawanna County detective, Walter Carlson, who specialized in surveillance investigation. {Id. at pp. 12-13, 121-122). Florimonte has admitted that Mr. Carlson inspected the vehicle in her presence, but did not discover any listening devices or surveillance equipment. {Id. atpp. 13,175-176). When Florimonte showed Mr. Carlson what she suspected was a recording apparatus, he demonstrated to her that it was the factory installed, remote control mechanism for adjusting the driver’s seat. {Id. atpp. 11,13,122-123,176; T.P. 11/28/12 atpp. 44-45).

At Florimonte’s insistence, the vehicle was also inspected by another surveillance expert who was hired by Florimonte. (T.P. 11/27/12 at p. 176). Florimonte has conceded under oath that her own surveillance expert likewise failed to discover any listening or surveillance device in the vehicle. {Id. at pp. 177, 181, 194-195). As for Florimonte’s allegations concerning electronic eavesdropping at her work station, “Carr invited Ms.

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

Related

Mandel v. M & Q Packaging Corp.
706 F.3d 157 (Third Circuit, 2013)
Sabella v. Estate of Milides
992 A.2d 180 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2010)
Commonwealth v. Baumhammers
960 A.2d 59 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2008)
Harman Ex Rel. Harman v. Borah
756 A.2d 1116 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2000)
Zappala v. Brandolini Property Management, Inc.
909 A.2d 1272 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2006)
Berger v. Schetman
883 A.2d 631 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2005)
Florimonte v. Borough of Dalton
37 A.3d 84 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 2012)
Bennett v. A.T. Masterpiece Homes at Broadsprings, LLC
40 A.3d 145 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2012)
Corrado v. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
790 A.2d 1022 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2001)
Lockley v. CSX Transp., Inc.
34 A.3d 831 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2011)
Commonwealth v. Birdsong
24 A.3d 319 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2011)
Gates v. Servicemaster Commercial Service
631 A.2d 677 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1993)
Lockley v. CSX Transportation Inc.
5 A.3d 383 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2010)
Betts Industries, Inc. v. Heelan
33 A.3d 1262 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2011)
Smith v. Morrison
47 A.3d 131 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2012)
Commonwealth v. Kouma
53 A.3d 760 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2012)
Huber v. Etkin
58 A.3d 772 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2012)
Commonwealth v. Williams
58 A.3d 796 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2012)
Keffer v. Bob Nolan's Auto Service, Inc.
59 A.3d 621 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
28 Pa. D. & C.5th 502, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/scranton-laminated-label-inc-v-florimonte-pactcompllackaw-2013.