Stringfellow v. Stringfellow

24 Pa. D. & C.3d 711, 1982 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 294
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Adams County
DecidedJune 29, 1982
Docketno. 82-S-81
StatusPublished

This text of 24 Pa. D. & C.3d 711 (Stringfellow v. Stringfellow) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Adams County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stringfellow v. Stringfellow, 24 Pa. D. & C.3d 711, 1982 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 294 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1982).

Opinion

SPICER, P.J.,

This action in trespass is an outgrowth of a custody fight. The parties to this action are all related to the child who was the subject of the custody case. Plaintiff is the father, defendant Sherry A. Stringfellow is the mother, and defendants Rosenwald are the child’s maternal grandparents.

Although this action does not directly concern all of those relationships, we will, from time to time, refer to the parties as the father, mother, and grandparents, respectively. When we do so, we do not mean to indicate that we have lost sight of the fact that this is a lawsuit for damages and not a custody battle.

Plaintiffs complaint consists of 25 paragraphs and is brought against three defendants. It alleges facts from which plaintiff proceeds on theories of (1) intentional infliction of emotional distress (Restatement (Second) of Torts, §46), (2) tortious interference with custody (Restatement (Second) of Torts, §700), and (3) conspiracy to commit (2). The complaint is not separated into counts.

All defendants have filed preliminary objections in the nature of demurrers and motions to strike. None of these objections challenge the form of the [713]*713complaint. The only reason we have mentioned the form is to explain why we will not be dealing with separate counts in our discussion.

The child’s parents separated in September, 1980. On October 1, 1980, they entered into a custody agreement by which the mother acquired permanent or general custody and the father partial or temporary custody. Some time after this, the parties further agreed to expand the father’s custodial rights. Plaintiff alleges, in paragraph eight, that the effect of this later agreement was that “custody of the minor child was about divided between the parents, which fact was known to defendants Rosenwald.”

In March, 1981, the mother notified plaintiff that she desired to move to West Germany. She suggested a new arrangement by which the child would be shared by each of the parties six months of the year. Plaintiff rejected this proposal and suggested that a custody action be instituted to resolve the impasse. The mother thereafter filed a petition for custody in this court. This action was filed to 81-S-206 and the complaint incorporates those proceedings by reference.

Pursuant to our local practice, we held a preliminary conference in the custody action of April 29,

1981. It appeared at the conference that general custody was disputed. A hearing was scheduled for July 1, 1981.

The mother requested another conference for the purpose of discussing means of gathering information. The second conference was held May 19, 1981, and the court authorized the taking of depositions of an Army Chaplain in West Germany relating to housing, recreational facilities, child care services, medical services, educational opportunities, and the like.

[714]*714On June 23, 1981, counsel exchanged names of potential witnesses for the July 1, 1981, hearing.

It can be assumed that matters were progressing smoothly at this point. The parents had a chance meeting with the child present at the Fireman’s Carnival in Fairfield on June 27, 1981, and discussed the upcoming hearing and the father’s temporary custody rights over the Fourth of July.

Shortly after this, the father received information that the mother planned on leaving with the child for West Germany prior to the hearing. He then, on July 29, 1981, filed a petition to enjoin the mother from removing the child from this jurisdiction. An order was entered but never served. The reason it was never served is that the mother flew to West Germany, taking the child with her, on the same date the order was entered.

Plaintiff alleges that the grandparents drove the mother and child to the airport and that the actions were done surreptitiously, without advance warning or notice, and without his knowledge or consent.

Neither the mother nor the child appeared at the July 1, 1981, hearing. Counsel for the mother appeared and tried unsuccessfully to withdraw the action. The hearing was then continued until August 6, 1981.

The mother’s lawyer requested and was denied another continuance August 6, 1981. Testimony was presented by the father and his witnesses. The court then ordered that a transcript be prepared and filed and that the mother be given the opportunity to provide testimony by deposition no later than 60 days after the transcript was filed.

The next occurrence was a letter sent by the mother and received by the father October 15, 1981. Plaintiff alleges that this was the first infor[715]*715mation provided him concerning the child’s whereabouts and welfare.

The mother did not provide depositional testimony. Therefore, another hearing was scheduled for December 16, 1981. At the mother’s request this hearing was continued until January 15, 1982. The mother was directed to personally appear and produce the child at this hearing. A request for a further continuance made by the mother January 13, 1982, was denied. The hearing was held as scheduled January 15, 1982, without the presence of either the mother or the child. The court then awarded temporary custody of the child to the father and scheduled another hearing for April 8, 1982.

When the mother failed to turn custody temporarily over to the father, the court, on the father’s petition, adjudicated the mother to be in contempt of court on February 15, 1982.

The mother appeared with the child in April and a hearing was held both on the matter of contempt and the matter of custody. Custody of the child was awarded jointly to the parents.

Plaintiffs action against the grandparents is based mainly upon conspiracy. He alleges that the mother and the grandparents conspired to deprive him of his rights to have custody adjudicated by the court at a hearing and to interfere with his temporary custody rights and parental relationship with his daughter. He does not say that defendants conspired to inflict emotional distress. The paragraphs which are pertinent to the conspiracy theory can be summarized as follows:

19. The grandparents drove the mother and the child to the airport.
20. The removal of the child from the jurisdiction was surreptitious.
[716]*71621. Defendants conspired as summarized earlier.
23. The grandparents did not provide plaintiff with information they had concerning the whereabouts and welfare of the child.
25. The actions by defendants were done “with the intention of disrupting his father-daughter relationship with the child, the exercise of his temporary custody rights, and for the purpose of inflicting severe mental and emotional distress and anxiety upon plaintiff. ...”

Other paragraphs allege actions by the mother which plaintiff claims were wrongful. The complaint demanded damages “in excess of $350,000” but plaintiff agrees that this properly should have stated “in excess of $10,000.”

With this background in mind, we will now discuss the objections filed by defendants. We begin by considering the demurrers.

1. Intentional infliction of emotional distress:

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Bluebook (online)
24 Pa. D. & C.3d 711, 1982 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 294, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stringfellow-v-stringfellow-pactcompladams-1982.