Zeigler v. Church of the Brethren General Board
This text of 807 A.2d 872 (Zeigler v. Church of the Brethren General Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
Opinion
*3 ORDER
AND NOW, this 25th day of September, 2002, the Petition for Allowance of Appeal is GRANTED. Defendants, Larry Dentler, Joseph A. Detrick, Warren M. Eshbach, Janice Custer, Joseph Kochansky, Donald Myers, Carol Van Horn, Cindy Leiphart, Leonard Stoner and Barbara Rotz, in their individual capacities, were required to assert their affirmative defense of privilege in responsive pleadings. See Pa.R.C.P. 1030(a). Defendants filed preliminary objections but did not raise ecclesiastical privilege before the trial court. Accordingly, defendants’ failure to raise the issue precluded the Superior Court from doing so sua sponte. See MacGregor v. Mediq Inc., 395 Pa.Super. 221, 576 A.2d 1123, 1127-28 (1990) (improper for court to act as advocate and sua sponte raise defense on behalf of party). The Superior Court’s conclusion regarding ecclesiastical privilege is vacated. This matter is remanded to the Superior Court to determine whether the trial court erred in sustaining the aforementioned defendants’ demurrers. Jurisdiction relinquished.
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack
807 A.2d 872, 570 Pa. 2, 2002 Pa. LEXIS 2020, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zeigler-v-church-of-the-brethren-general-board-pa-2002.