Varner-Mort, D. v. Kapfhammer, B.

109 A.3d 244, 2015 Pa. Super. 14, 2015 Pa. Super. LEXIS 21, 2015 WL 252444
Superior Court of Pennsylvania·Decided January 21, 2015·No. 261 WDA 2014·Published·Cited by 23 cases

Opinions

OPINION BY

STRASSBURGER, J.:

Donna Varner-Mort (Varner-Mort) and Daniel Mort (Mort) (collectively Appellants) appeal from an order granting the motion for summary judgment filed by Bridget Kapfhammer (Kapfhammer). We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

The relevant background underlying this matter can be summarized as follows. Varner-Mort and Kapfhammer were in an automobile accident on May 6, 2009. On June 27, 2011, Appellants filed a complaint against Kapfhammer. Varner-Mort presented a count of negligence against Kapfhammer, and Mort, Varner-Mort’s husband, presented a count of loss of consortium against Kapfhammer.

It is undisputed that, because Appellants chose the limited tort option when they purchased automobile insurance, pursuant to the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law (MVFRL),1 Varner-Mort could recover non-economic damages only if she proved that she suffered a “serious injury.” 75 Pa.C.S. § 1705(a)(1)(A).. The MVFRL defines “serious injury” as “[a] personal injury resulting in death, serious impairment of body function or permanent serious disfigurement.” 75 Pa.C.S. § 1702.

Kapfhammer filed an answer and new matter. In her new matter, Kapfhammer averred, inter alia, that the statute of limitations barred Appellants’ cause of action.2

Kapfhammer eventually filed a motion for summary judgment wherein she raised her statute-of-limitations defense. In that motion, Kapfhammer maintained that, pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. § 5524(2), Appellants’ causes of action are governed by a two-year statute of limitations. According to Kapfhammer, Varner-Mort’s medical records indicate that, on May 9, 2009, Var-ner-Mort sought treatment at Lewistown Hospital, where she was diagnosed with a back sprain with paresthesia of a lower extremity. Kapfhammer averred that Varner-Mort continued to have treatment on her lower back over the years but that the injury remained the same from the time of the accident through 2011. Kapf-hammer took the position that the statute of limitations required Appellants to file their complaint by May 6, 2011, i.e., two years after the accident occurred. Because Appellants did not file their complaint until June 27, 2011, Kapfhammer contended that the trial court should grant her motion for summary judgment and dismiss Appellants’ complaint with prejudice.

In Appellants’ response to the motion for summary judgment, relying on this Court’s opinion in Walls v. Scheckler, 700 A.2d 532 (Pa.Super.1997), Appellants argued that the statute of limitations did not begin to run until Varner-Mort became [246]*246aware that she suffered a “serious injury.” Appellants highlighted the facts that Var-ner-Mort did not have an MRI until August 13, 2009 and that she did not discuss the results of that test with a doctor until later that day. Appellants contended that a genuine issue of material fact remained as to when Varner-Mort discovered that she suffered a “serious injury” and, therefore, that the trial court should deny the motion for summary judgment and allow a fact-finder to hear the case.

The trial court granted the motion for summary judgment. In so doing, the court reasoned, in relevant part, as follows.

... [ ] Varner-Mort was reasonably put on notice that she suffered a serious injury prior to the first MRI on August 13, 2009. She knew that she was injured the day of the accident as she experienced pain and swelling about an hour after the accident. She went to the emergency room initially on May 8, 2009 and returned May 9, 2009 where she complained and sought treatment for pain and numbness that radiated down her legs to her toes in the L4-5 distribution. As her symptoms for these same injuries failed to improve with the prescribed treatment, [ ] Varner-Mort was reasonably put on notice that she had suffered a serious injury as a result of the motor vehicle accident.
Corrective surgery to mitigate [ ] Var-ner-Mort’s pain will not extend the date of the beginning of the statutory period. The discovery rule is not designed to allow plaintiffs to indefinitely extend filing and set aside a reasonable person’s common sense. The [cjourt finds that [ ] Varner-Mort had the requisite notice of a serious injury on May 9, 2009; accordingly, [Appellants’] claims are barred as this action was not filed prior to the expiration of the two-year statute of limitation on May 6, 2011. ...

Trial Court Opinion and Order, 1/24/2014, at 6-7 (citations omitted).

Appellants timely filed a notice of appeal. The trial court directed Appellants to comply with Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b). Appellants then filed a Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) statement, and the trial court filed a Pa. R.A.P. 1925(a) opinion. In their brief to this Court, Appellants ask us to consider one question, namely, “Did the motion court below err when it found, as a matter of law, that a limited-tort plaintiff knew that she suffered from a ‘serious’ injury on May 9, 2009, on which date she saw an emergency room physician who found only mild weakness of the right lower extremity?” Appellants’ Brief at 4.3

The standards which govern summary judgment are well settled. When a party seeks summary judgment, a court shall enter judgment whenever there is no genuine issue of any material fact as to a necessary element of the cause of action or defense that could be established by additional discovery. A motion for summary judgment is based on an evidentiary record that entitles the moving party to a judgment as a matter of law. In considering the merits of a motion for summary judgment, a court views the record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, and all doubts as to the existence of a genuine issue of material fact must be resolved against the moving party. Finally, the court may grant summary judgment only when the right to such a judgment is clear and free from doubt. An appel[247]*247late court may reverse the granting of a motion for summary judgment if there has been an error of law or an abuse of discretion....

Swords v. Harleysville Ins. Companies, 584 Pa. 382, 883 A.2d 562, 566-67 (2005) (citations omitted).

Appellants contend on appeal that the trial court erred by granting the motion for summary judgment. They continue to argue that a genuine issue of material fact remains as to when Varner-Mort knew or should have known that she suffered a “serious injury,” triggering the two-year statute of limitations. We are constrained to agree with Appellants.

In Walls, Margaret Wells (Wells)4 and Maureen Scheckler were involved in an automobile accident on September 27, 1991. Wells filed a writ of summons against Maureen and Charles Scheckler (the Schecklers) on September 30, 1993 and, later, a complaint wherein Wells alleged that Maureen Scheckler’s negligence caused the accident. Because Wells chose the limited-tort option when she purchased automobile insurance, she could recover non-economic damages only if she proved that she suffered a “serious injury.”

The Schecklers filed a motion for summary judgment, alleging that Wells filed her complaint three days after the two-year statute of limitations for negligence had expired.

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Varner-Mort, D. v. Kapfhammer, B., 109 A.3d 244, 2015 Pa. Super. 14, 2015 Pa. Super. LEXIS 21, 2015 WL 252444 (Pa. Ct. App. 2015).

109 A.3d 244 (Varner-Mort, D. v. Kapfhammer, B.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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