Urmann v. Rockwood Casualty Insurance

905 A.2d 513, 2006 Pa. Super. 201, 2006 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1687, 2006 WL 2109506
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 31, 2006
DocketNo. 1512 WDA 2004
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 905 A.2d 513 (Urmann v. Rockwood Casualty Insurance) 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
Urmann v. Rockwood Casualty Insurance, 905 A.2d 513, 2006 Pa. Super. 201, 2006 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1687, 2006 WL 2109506 (Pa. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION BY

McCAFFERY, J.:

¶ 1 Appellant, Rockwood Casualty Insurance Company, appeals from the order of the Court of Common Pleas of McKean County approving a settlement agreement that provides for a $250,000 recovery for the loss of consortium claims of Appellee, Mary Lee Urmann (“Mrs.Urmann”), and a $50,000 recovery for the personal injury claims of Appellee, John Urmann, Sr. (“Mr.Urmann”).1 Appellant, a workers’ compensation insurance carrier, holds a subrogation hen against the settlement paid to Mr. Urmann by third-party tort-feasors, pursuant to Section 319 of the Workers’ Compensation Act (the “Act”), 77 P.S. § 671. After careful review, we conclude that the trial court neither abused its discretion nor erred as a matter of law in approving the settlement agreement, and accordingly, we affirm.

¶ 2 The facts of this case are taken from the record below. Mr. Urmann was the president and owner of Valley Coal & Supply Company (“Valley Coal”). On January 27,1995, Mr. Urmann was severely injured in an automobile accident while in the course of his employment. Appellant, as the workers’ compensation carrier for Valley Coal, commenced payment of workers’ compensation wage loss and medical benefits to Mr. Urmann.

¶ 3 The Urmanns thereafter initiated a third-party tortfeasor action against Ap-pellees, George Spilka and Timothy Spilka t/d/b/a The Spilka Wood Products (“Spil-ka”), alleging that Spilka’s negligence was responsible in part for the Urmanns’ injuries. While Mr. Urmann’s claims were for injuries directly sustained in the automobile accident, Mrs. Urmann’s claims were for loss of consortium.

¶ 4 Through mediation efforts before former Judge Murphy of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, the Urmanns and Spilka arrived at a settlement of $300,000 to cover all claims. Of this amount, $50,000 was to be paid to Mr. Urmann for his physical and mental injuries, and $250,000 was to be paid to Mrs. Urmann for her loss of consortium. Appellant was notified of the pending settlement, and the Urmanns petitioned the trial court to approve the terms of the settlement. Appellant opposed approval, based not on the total settlement amount, but on the apportionment of the settlement, which assigned over 80% of the recovery to Mrs. Urmann for her loss of consortium claims.

¶ 5 At an evidentiary hearing before the Honorable John M. Cleland, President Judge, the Urmanns presented three witnesses, while Appellant presented none. The Urmanns’ first witness, Anthony Sci-arrino, Esquire, represented Spilka during the settlement negotiations. Mr. Sciarrino testified that prior to mediation, Spilka’s insurers had made an initial settlement offer of $25,000. (Notes of Testimony (“N.T.”), 7/29/04, at 8, 19). Mr. Sciarrino’s own analysis of the case led him to conclude that Mr. Urmann’s damages alone were quite significant, and that Spilka’s potential exposure for liability suggested a reasonable range for settlement of between $75,000 and $125,000. (Id. at 9, 19). During mediation, however, Mr. Sciarrino and the adjustor for Spilka’s insurer, Rob[516]*516ert Egee,2 had the opportunity to meet the Urmanns and assess Mr. Urmann’s then-current condition and how Mr. Urmann’s injuries impacted upon Mrs. Urmann, who was believed by Mr. Sciarrino to be a candid individual. (Id. at 11). While Mr. Urmann had largely recovered from his physical injuries, those injuries had disabled him mentally.3 Although Mr. Ur-mann was mostly unaware of his mental deficits, Mrs. Urmann had to deal with them on a constant, daily basis. Based upon these facts, Mr. Sciarrino and Mr. Egee concluded that Mrs. Urmann’s loss of consortium claims were far more substantive than the typical loss of consortium claim. As Mr. Sciarrino testified:

[T]here is a tendency to not look at the consortium claim as a big component of most cases. The majority of the time it is not a large component. It is 10, 15, 20 percent.
When we talked to Mrs. Urmann, I think we got a lot better appreciation of how things impacted her in many ways much more than Mr. Urmann. And that — that weighed heavily on us.
The best way I can analogize to it is to say that my father has Alzheimers. It’s not in the late stages, it is in the beginning. But I can see he isn’t aware of memory loss, he isn’t aware of things that happen to him, but my mother is, and I see the impact it has.
And when Bob Egee and I talked about it we analogized to that, that to a certain degree Mr. Urmann is blissfully unaware of some of his problems[,] where Mrs. Urmann ends up being — carrying the emotional weight of that. And that impacted our analysis.
And up until I met them in person and we talked in the big conference room, I did not really have a good appreciation of that. And then that changed the analysis and then Mr. Egee contacted their home office in Philadelphia and there [were] some phone calls back and forth, and then there [were] some additional monies that were released.

(Id. at 11-12).

¶ 6 Because of the difficulties faced by Mrs. Urmann as a consequence of her husband’s injuries, Spilka raised its settlement offer to $300,000, with the intent that the majority of these monies would compensate Mrs. Urmann for her loss of consortium. (Id. at 12, 21-22, 25, 30-31, 33). The final offer, accepted by the Urmanns, was $250,000 for Mrs. Urmann’s claims, and $50,000 for Mr. Urmann’s claims. (Id. at 21). Because of the unusual nature of the settlement, with the spouse of the injured party receiving the lion’s share of the recovery, Judge Murphy recommended obtaining court approval of the settlement agreement. (Id. at 32-33).

¶ 7 The Urmanns’ adult daughter, Christine Aiello, testified at the hearing that her father had changed from being a person who took care of everything to one who was incapable of assuming his daily responsibilities, thus necessitating that her mother assume responsibility for them. In fact, Ms. Aiello testified that Mrs. Urmann “had to become more of a mother than a wife” to her husband as a result of the accident-related changes he [517]*517suffered. (Id. at 38). She further testified that her parents no longer entertained as they had prior to the accident, that her father had become short-tempered, and that her father had lost understanding of certain basic concepts, including concepts of “danger” and “being able to tell right from ■wrong.” {Id. at 40). Further, Mr. Urmann had become intolerant of noise, particularly the noise typically made by children, and he would order his grandchildren away when he became irritated by their noise and play. {Id. at 44).

¶ 8 Finally, Mrs. Urmann testified regarding the change her life has undergone since the accident-related injuries altered her husband’s abilities and personality. Mrs. Urmann testified that her husband has become “completely different,” a person who is now very quiet and who can not tolerate the company of children for any length of time, although he initially enjoys their company. {Id. at 49). Mr. Urmann went from being a very active man to one who now “does nothing” and “sleeps most of the day.” {Id. at 50). The Urmanns’ social life has also changed greatly, as they no longer go out very much. Mrs. Ur-mann attributes this circumstance to Mr. Urmann’s discomfort with his stuttering speech and forgetfulness. {Id.

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Bluebook (online)
905 A.2d 513, 2006 Pa. Super. 201, 2006 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1687, 2006 WL 2109506, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/urmann-v-rockwood-casualty-insurance-pasuperct-2006.