A.A. v. Animal Care and Control ( 2021 )

J-A13036-21
NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
A.A., MINOR, BY VICTORIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
ALVAREZ, GUARDIAN : PENNSYLVANIA
:
Appellant :
:
:
v. :
:
: No. 1533 EDA 2020
ANIMAL CARE AND CONTROL TEAM :
OF PHILADELPHIA :
v. :
:
:
BRIAN DESHIELDS :
Appeal from the Order Entered June 17, 2020
In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Civil Division at
No(s): No. 180302261
BEFORE: BENDER, P.J.E., DUBOW, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.*
MEMORANDUM BY STEVENS, P.J.E.: Filed: July 8, 2021
Appellant A.A., a Minor, by Victoria Alvarez, Guardian appeals from the
Order entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County on June
17, 2020, denying her posttrial motion and entering judgment in favor of her
in the amount of $100,000.00 following a jury trial in her personal injury
action filed against Animal Care and Control Team of Philadelphia (hereinafter
“ACCT”) and additional defendant Brian DeShields. Following our review, we
affirm.
____________________________________________
* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.
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This matter arises out of a dog attack on April 18, 2015, which occurred
at Brian DeShields’ apartment in Norristown, PA. On that day, A.A., who was
two-and-one-half years old, was bitten by Mr. DeShields’ dog, Roger,1 and
sustained serious injuries to her leg. Mr. DeShields adopted Roger from ACCT
on April 17, 2015, and at that time he was advised to provide Roger with a
“two week shut down” so as to allow the dog time to adapt to its new home.
Mr. DeShields also was informed he could not adopt Roger if there were any
children in his home unless he followed certain ACCT protocols. However, the
ACCT website described Roger as playful, energetic, and family-oriented.
On April 18, 2015, Mr. DeShields asked his friend and coworker Ms.
Alvarez to care for and walk Roger for him because he would be working a
double shift. Ms. Alvarez brought Roger to her home where A.A., her
daughter, among others, was present. Roger bit A.A. on the leg while the two
were in Ms. Alvarez’s apartment and violently shook her side to side. The bite
caused serious bleeding and eight lacerations to A.A.’s leg. At trial, Ms.
Alvarez testified the attack occurred without reason.
Ms. Alvarez sought emergency treatment for A.A. at Children’s’ Hospital
of Philadelphia (CHOP). There, Ms. Alvarez told emergency personnel that
A.A. had been playing with the dog when she accidentally sat on it. A.A.
needed to be sedated, her wounds were stitched, and her leg was placed in a
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1 Roger’s breed is referred to as both a “pit bull terrier mix” and as “pit bull”
within the record.
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splint. She has serious scarring and will require cosmetic surgical procedures
when she is older. She continues to walk with a limp and experiences pain if
she walks more than a half block. Her scars have made her the subject of
teasing at her dance classes, and she often must answer inquiries about what
happened to her. Six years old at the time of trial, A.A. was very self-
conscious and cried frequently due to her leg’s appearance.
Liability for A.A.’s injuries was contested at the eight-day jury trial.
After trial commenced, Appellant and ACCT, by their respective counsel,
entered into a binding high/low agreement2 on the record before the trial
court, the terms of which provided a ceiling of $700,000.00 and a low of
____________________________________________
2 A high/low agreement is “a settlement in which a defendant agrees to pay
the plaintiff a minimum recovery in return for the plaintiff's agreement to
accept a maximum amount regardless of the outcome of trial.” Black's Law
Dictionary, 11th ed. (2019); see also Power v. Tomarchio, 701 A.2d 1371(Pa.Super. 1997) (high/low agreement defining floor and ceiling of potential
recovery constitutes a settlement).
High/low agreements are considered settlement contracts. “Settlement
agreements are regarded as contracts and must be considered pursuant to
general rules of contract interpretation.” Friia v. Friia, 780 A.2d 664, 668
(Pa.Super. 2001) (citation omitted). The fundamental rule in construing a
contract “is to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the parties.” Id.Thus, this Court “will adopt an interpretation which, under all circumstances,
ascribes the most reasonable, probable, and natural conduct of the parties,
bearing in mind the objects manifestly to be accomplished.” Id. In addition, if
“the language appearing in the written agreement is clear and unambiguous,
the parties' intent must be discerned solely from the plain meaning of the
words used.” Id. Furthermore, we “may not ignore otherwise clear language
merely because one of the parties did not anticipate related complications
prior to performance.” Id; Miller v. Ginsberg, 874 A.2d 93, 99 (Pa.Super.
2005).
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$100,000.00. The trial court agreed that the minimum amount Appellant
would receive regardless of the jury’s verdict would be $100,000, and if the
jury’s verdict were to exceed $700,000, the most Appellant would receive
would be $700,000. N.T., 2/11/20, at 31-32.
The trial court told Appellant’s counsel “[t]hat sounds like a pretty good
deal for your client and, at the same time, a safeguard for your client. Makes
sense to me.” Id. at 33.3 At the conclusion of trial, the jury entered a verdict
of $100,000.00 in favor of Appellant and against ACCT only.
On March 2, 2020, Appellant filed a Motion for Post Trial Relief Pursuant
to Pa.R.Civ.P. 227.1. On March 11, 2020, ACCT filed a Motion to Strike
Plaintiff's Post Trial Motions, in which ACCT specifically requested that the trial
court strike Appellant’s motion and enter judgment on the verdict. On June
17, 2020, the trial court denied Appellant’s motion for a new trial on damages
and entered judgment on the verdict in favor of Appellant and against Appellee
ACCT in the amount of $100,000.00.
____________________________________________
3 Pursuant to Pa.R.C.P. 2039, any settlement agreement involving a minor
party must be approved by the court. See Pa.R.C.P. 2039 (providing in
relevant part: “No action to which a minor is a party shall be compromised,
settled or discontinued except after approval by the court pursuant to a
petition presented by the guardian of the minor.” Pa.R.C.P. 2039(a)). Here,
as previously stated, the trial court approved of the parties’ agreement on the
record.
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On June 25, 2020, Appellant filed a Motion for Reconsideration of the
Order denying her Motion for a New Trial and entering judgment on the
verdict. The trial court denied Appellant’s Motion for Reconsideration on July
15, 2020. The next day, Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal. Both
Appellant and the trial court have complied with the requirements of Pa.R.A.P.
1925.
In her brief, Appellant presents the following Statement of Questions
Involved:
1. Did the trial court err as a matter of law when it denied
[Appellant’s] posttrial motion seeking a new trial on damages,
where Attorney Kevin McNulty, Esq., who with his firm
represented ACCT, intentionally altered the verdict slip in violation
of the [c]ourt’s ruling regarding damages available to [Appellant]
that were to be listed in one paragraph on the second page of the
verdict slip?
2. Did the trial court err in denying [Appellant’s] posttrial motion
seeking a new trial on damages, where the court failed to instruct
or direct the jury that it must consider each and every available
damage separately in determining [Appellant’s] damages
pursuant to Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure 223.3, and
therefore the award of damages was against the weight of the
evidence;
3. Did the trial court err in denying [Appellant’s] posttrial motion
seeking a new trial on damages where, after the trial court read
the jury instructions to the jury, defendant's [A]ttorney McNulty
asked for side bar and asked for corrections for the court to read
which confused the jury, as to damages in particular, and
[Appellant’s] counsel objected to any mention that the jury could
not consider defendant ACCT's financial ability to pay or not pay
any verdict, but prior to this point [Appellant’s] attorney was
warned that he could not object after the court made a ruling in
attorney McNulty's favor and therefore, [Appellant] was
prejudiced as to objecting to the new jury charge which confused
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the jury as to damages and the ability to award a large verdict as
to damages; and
4. Did the trial court err in denying [Appellant’s] posttrial motion
seeking a new trial on damages, where the court allowed and
accepted misconduct of [ACCT] [A]ttorney McNulty that
prejudiced [Appellant] specifically including violating the
Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure, the discovery deadlines and
discovery orders throughout the proceedings including
a) holding back key documents of defendant ACCT and not
delivering them until past the discovery deadline even though
defense counsel represented that all the documents were
produced;
b) refusing to produce the Executive Director of ACCT for
deposition until after the discovery deadline even though they
agreed to produce her for deposition at an agreed upon date and
time but failed to do so;
c) not timely answering additional defendant DeShields’ request
for admissions, and not appearing at the hearing on the motion to
deem the requests admitted which therefore was submitted by
DeShields' counsel as uncontested, and not filing in a timely
fashion a proper motion asking the court not to deem the
admissions admitted but waiting right before trial to file a motion
in limine which the court granted and which prejudiced [Appellant]
since [Appellant’s] counsel had a right to conclude that the
request for admissions were deemed admitted under the
Rules because they were not answered or objected to within 30
days but then had to change strategy to also focus on liability?
Brief for Appellant at 4-6. As Appellant’s first three issues are
interrelated, we will consider them together.
Initially, a trial court's denial of a motion for post-trial relief is limited:
to determining whether the trial court abused its discretion or
committed an error of law. An abuse of discretion exists when the
trial court has rendered a judgment that is manifestly
unreasonable, arbitrary, or capricious, has failed to apply the law,
or was motivated by partiality, prejudice, bias, or ill will. If the
alleged mistake concerned an error of law, we will scrutinize for
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legal error. On questions of law, our standard of review is de novo
and our scope of review is plenary.
Spencer v. Johnson, 249 A.3d 529, 549 (Pa.Super. 2021) (citation omitted).
Our review of the trial court's denial of a motion for a new trial is well-
settled: “Trial courts have broad discretion to grant or deny a new trial and,
absent a clear abuse of discretion by the trial court, appellate courts must not
interfere with the trial court's authority to grant or deny a new trial.”
Banohashim v. R.S. Enters., LLC, 77 A.3d 14, 22 (Pa.Super. 2013) (citation
omitted and some formatting altered).
When considering a challenge to the weight of the evidence, this Court
has observed the following:
[ ] the role of the trial judge is to determine that notwithstanding
all the facts, certain facts are so clearly of greater weight that to
ignore them or give them equal weight with all the other facts is
to deny justice. Furthermore, in reviewing a weight of the
evidence claim we look to see if the verdict was so contrary to the
evidence as to shock one's sense of justice and make the award
of a new trial imperative.
Commonwealth v. Sexton, 222 A.3d 405, 414–15 (Pa.Super. 2019)
(quotation marks and citations omitted), appeal denied, 229 A.3d 568 (Pa.
2020).
In addition, our review of jury instructions is governed by the following
principles:
Our standard of review when considering the adequacy of jury
instructions in a civil case is to determine whether the trial court
committed a clear abuse of discretion or error of law controlling
the outcome of the case. It is only when the charge as a whole is
inadequate or not clear or has a tendency to mislead or confuse,
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rather than clarify a material issue, that error in a charge will be
found to be a sufficient basis for the award of a new trial. [A]
charge will be found adequate unless the issues are not made
clear, the jury was misled by the instructions, or there was an
omission from the charge amounting to a fundamental error.
[Furthermore,] in reviewing a trial judge's charge, the proper test
is not whether certain portions taken out of context appear
erroneous. We look to the charge in its entirety, against the
background of the evidence in the particular case, to determine
whether or not error was committed and whether that error was
prejudicial to the complaining party.
Salsgiver Communications, Inc. v. Consolidated Communications
Holdings, Inc., 150 A.3d 957, 962-63 (Pa.Super. 2016) (citations omitted
and some formatting altered).
In her first three claims, Appellant asserts counsel for ACCT, Attorney
Kevin R. McNulty, intentionally altered the verdict slip when he suggested he
would fix a typographical error but instead removed therefrom the words
“past, present and future pain and suffering.” Appellant alleges counsel’s
fraudulent intent is evident in the fact that the edit to be made was located
on the first page of the verdict slip, and the altered language was on page
two. Appellant argues that because there was no need for page two be edited,
her counsel should not have been expected to proofread the entire verdict slip
before it was provided to the jury. Brief for Appellant at 14-16.
Notwithstanding, Appellant admits the trial court noticed the omission,
and wrote at the bottom of question four “(Pain+Suffering).” Nevertheless,
Appellant speculates this action of the trial court, coupled with the instructions
the trial court provided to the jury on the issue of damages, confused the jury.
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Additionally, Appellant claims she was prohibited from raising any
further objections following a sidebar near the conclusion of trial. Appellant
concludes that Mr. McNulty’s fraudulent actions vitiate the high/low
agreement, and as a result, she is entitled to a new trial on damages only.
Id. at 15-18.
Before reaching the merits of Appellant’s arguments, we first must
determine whether they have been preserved for appellate review. The issue
of waiver presents a question of law, and, as such, our standard of review is
de novo, and our scope of review is plenary.” Stapas v. Giant Eagle, Inc.,
650 Pa. 1, 198 A.3d 1033, 1037 (2018). Issues not raised below are waived;
a party may not raise them for the first time on appeal. See Pa.R.A.P. 302(a).
The Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure and case law provide
well-established requirements for preserving a claim for appellate review.
It is axiomatic that “[i]ssues not raised in the lower court are
waived and cannot be raised for the first time on appeal.”
Pa.R.A.P. 302(a). “The absence of a contemporaneous objection
below constitutes a waiver” of the claim on appeal.
Commonwealth v. Powell, [ ] 956 A.2d 406, 423 ([Pa.] 2008);
Tindall v. Friedman, 970 A.2d 1159, 1174 (Pa. Super. 2009)
(“On appeal, we will not consider assignments of error that were
not brought to the tribunal's attention at a time at which the error
could have been corrected or the alleged prejudice could have
been mitigated.”) (citation omitted)).
Commonwealth v. Rodriguez, 174 A.3d 1130, 1145 (Pa.Super. 2017).
Generally, “in order to preserve an issue for appellate review, a party
must make a timely and specific objection at the appropriate stage of the
proceedings before the trial court. Failure to timely object to a basic and
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fundamental error, such as an erroneous jury instruction, will result in waiver
of that issue. On appeal, the Superior Court will not consider a claim which
was not called to the trial court's attention at a time when any error committed
could have been corrected.” (citations omitted); Fillmore v. Hill, 665 A.2d
514, 515-16 (Pa.Super. 1995) see also Bednarek v. Velazquez, 830 A.2d
1267, 1270 (Pa.Super. 2003).
Typically, the failure to raise a specific and timely objection to a
particular jury instruction results in waiver. Commonwealth v. Forbes, 867
A.2d 1268, 1274 (Pa.Super. 2005); Pa.R.A.P. 302(b) (providing that for an
issue regarding the charge to the jury to be reviewable, a “[s]pecific exception
shall be taken to the language or omission complained of”); Commonwealth
v. May, 584 Pa. 640, 654, 887 A.2d 750, 758 (Pa. 2005) (“To the extent the
claims would sound in trial court error, they are waived due to the absence of
contemporaneous objections.”). Importantly, where an appellant includes an
issue in his Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) statement, such inclusion does not “resurrect”
a waived claim. Rodriguez, at 1145 n.6 (citing Steiner v. Markel, 968 A.2d
1253 (Pa. 2009)).
Herein, the following exchange pertaining to the verdict slip took place
on the record:
THE COURT: Do I have the wrong verdict sheet?
Mr. Charles Mandracchia: Yes. Because when it goes to Victoria
Alvarez here—I guess I said Victor. But everything was supposed
to—the only thing that was supposed to be changed was Victoria.
And when I asked Mr. McNulty, “Does it say the exact same
thing?”
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He said, “Yes.”
THE COURT: Well, it doesn’t now.
Mr. Charles Mandracchia: I guess I took his word.
THE COURT: I’m just saying, it doesn’t say the same thing. But
they’re being thoroughly instructed.
Mr. Charles Mandracchia: I understand, Your Honor. It’s just
frustrating when you—
THE COURT: I can write it on there, if you want.
Mr. Charles Mandracchia: If you would do that, I’d appreciate
it. Thank you.[]
---
THE COURT: There were a couple of different versions of the
verdict sheet, just because of a typo. Like Victoria, for a couple
of times, was Victor. There is no Victor Alvarez in this case. But
somebody’s keys were stuck or something. They kept doing Victor
Alvarez.
Anyway, the last version left out pain and suffering. So I’m
just going to write pain and suffering in there so there’s no chance
of you forgetting it.
(Brief pause.)
THE COURT: You don’t need a separate amount for pain and
suffering. It’s just a reminder that in that list of noneconomic
damages, pain and suffering is included. One number goes on
that line.
And then, finally, I think I was telling you that with
disfigurement, she’s entitled to be fully and adequately
compensated with regard to disfigurement for any suffering in the
past, as well as in the future. . . .
N.T., 2/19/20, at 33-34.
Clearly, Appellant’s counsel failed to object to the wording on or layout
of the verdict sheet after the trial court edited it.4 In fact, counsel for
Appellant thanked the trial court for its suggestion to write in (“pain
____________________________________________
4 Appellant admitted in her motion for post-trial relief counsel did not object
to the verdict slip or to the jury charge. See “Motion of Plaintiff AA, Minor, By
Victoria Alvarez, Guardian, for Post Trial Relief Pursuant to Pa.R.Civ.P. 227.1”
at ¶¶ 27, 33.
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+suffering”) and said nothing in response to the above explanation for the
handwritten notation. Likewise, Appellant’s counsel failed to ask to view the
revised verdict slip thereafter.
Despite Appellant’s counsel’s contrary arguments to this Court, counsel
obviously was aware of the handwritten edit, acquiesced to it, and certainly
had an ability to have simply turned to page two to review it as well as to
request the court to make appropriate changes to the verdict slip but failed to
do so.
As such, we find Appellant’s counsel’s arguments concerning the verdict
slip are waived for failure to make timely objections. Even if we were to review
those claims on the merits, we find Appellant’s counsel had ample opportunity
to review the entire verdict slip prior to its submission to the jury but failed to
do so.
Furthermore, Appellant contends counsel was prevented from objecting
to the new charge as it was read to the jury following a sidebar at which time
Mr. McNulty asked that corrections be made. Appellant states that “[p]rior to
this point, [Appellant’s] attorney Charles Mandracchia was warned he could
not object after the court made a ruling in Attorney McNulty’s favor.” Brief
for Appellant at 21. However, Appellant’s counsel fails to provide any citation
to the record in support of this claim. Conversely, the record belies the
assertion.
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Initially, the trial court provided the jury with detailed instructions on
the issue of damages. N.T., 2/19/20, at 25-43. During this time, Appellant’s
counsel made a request to clarify the term disfigurement to include scarring:
THE COURT: Are there any additions? Subtractions?
Corrections?
Mr. Charles Mandracchia: Yes, Your Honor.
I have another issue regarding-- when you said
“disfigurement,” it should be scarring and disfigurement on the
verdict sheet.
THE COURT: Ok.
He’s right. If I didn’t say “scarring,” scarring is a form of
disfigurement. So it’s like a reminder. . . .
What you heard about in this case was scarring. That’s the
disfigurement, or at least part of the disfigurement. So don’t
forget scarring when you’re evaluating this case.
Id. at 39-40.
Appellant’s counsel had no objections thereafter, nor did counsel raise
additional issues during a discussion in the robing room after counsel for ACCT
expressed some concerns with the charge. Id. at 40-44. Also, when the trial
court asked if there were “anything else we should tell the jury before they go
out to deliberate?” both counsel replied “No, Your Honor.” N.T. 2/29/20, at
52.
This exchange, wherein the trial court invited further expressions of
concern from either counsel, clearly disproves Appellant’s position that her
counsel had been “warned” he could not object after the court had ruled in
Attorney McNulty’s favor prior to the time the jury went out to deliberate and,
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instead, must wait to raise any further concerns on appeal.5 Therefore,
Appellant waived any issues she had with the verdict slip and the jury
instructions given by the trial court.6
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5 At oral argument, Attorney Mandracchia referred to the following exchange
in support of this position:
Mr. Charles Mandracchia: Your Honor, I just want to read
the language that was agreed to on Question 4. And the only
change that was supposed to be made—
THE COURT: No. there’s no reason to do that. There was
something left out, so I wrote it in.
If you want to see what I wrote, we’ll bring back—
Mr. Charles Mandracchia: No. I saw what you wrote. I
just wanted to know if scarring was there also on your verdict
sheet and you just omitted it.
THE COURT: I don’t know what’s on the verdict sheet. I
read whatever was there. But I told the jury about scarring.
Mr. Charles Mandracchia: Your Honor, I—
THE COURT: It’s pretty obvious that what we’re talking
about with disfigurement is scarring.
Mr. Charles Mandracchia: I understand that, Your Honor.
I’m trying to follow the rules of civility to the best of my ability.
THE COURT: Yeah, you’re unhappy with Mr. McNulty.
That’s been apparent from day one.
Let me say this about all the lawyers in this case. I really
hope to se you all again back in my courtroom, everyone from
Chris Mandracchia to Ms. Griffis I just hope you’re not all on the
same case. All right?
But I’m not going to get into your displeasure with
something that has no consequence as far as the jury verdict.
They got a good verdict sheet in the end. That’s what they walked
out with.
The instruction wasn’t perfect, but it was, I thought, a fine
instruction. And objections were made. And if anybody has a
problem with any of that, that’s what appellate courts are for, so…
Mr. Charles Mandracchia: Thank you, Your Honor.
N.T., 2/10/20, at 53-54.
(Footnote Continued Next Page)
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In her final issue, Appellant maintains the trial court erred when it failed
to grant her posttrial motion seeing a new trial on damages in light of
numerous discovery violations on the part of ACCT. Appellant posits these
violations evince opposing counsel’s pattern of deception and dishonesty, the
culmination of which prejudiced both Appellant and Mr. DeShields during trial.
In her Motion for Post Trial Relief, Appellant argued she was prejudiced
“because, then, right at the start of trial, [Appellant] and additional
defendant[] had to change their focus and put more time and emphasis on
liability than was planned, which took away from the time planned for
damages, which was the initial trial strategy.” Motion of Plaintiff AA, Minor,
____________________________________________
Critically, this exchange occurred after the jury had exited, and the trial
court was interrupted as it seemed to suggest it would bring the jury back to
permit counsel to see again examine the verdict sheet. The trial court’s later
reference to the purpose of appellate courts was directed at counsel for all
parties and does not change the fact that Attorney Mandracchia did not timely
object to the jury charge prior to deliberations, even though he admitted he
saw the verdict sheet.
6 Even if these issues had been properly preserved, as previously stated, a
new trial will be granted on the grounds that a verdict was against the weight
of the evidence only when “the verdict is so contrary to the evidence it shocks
one’s sense of justice.” See Sexton, supra. As the trial court observed,
Appellant acquiesced in the high/low agreement, with $100,000 as the
minimum recoverable by her, and the jury’s award was within the parameters
of that agreement. Thus, we find no error of law or abuse of discretion in the
trial court’s denial of the motion for a new trial upon finding “it [is] unlikely
that [Ms. Alvarez] agreed to a number that shocked her own conscience, thus
the [c]ourt views this complaint as frivolous and without merit.” Trial Court
Opinion, filed 11/19/20, at 4.
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By Victoria Alvarez, Guardian, for Post Trial Relief Pursuant to Pa.R.Civ.P.
227.1 at ¶ 59.
Our rules of civil procedure provide the trial court “may, on motion,
make an appropriate order for sanctions for discovery violations.” Pa.R.C.P.
4019. This Court will not disturb a trial court's imposition of sanctions, or lack
thereof, due to a party's failure to comply with a discovery order absent an
abuse of discretion. See Schweikert v. St. Luke's Hosp. of Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania, 886 A.2d 265, 268 (Pa.Super. 2005) (citation omitted). While
the severity of the sanctions imposed is also within the trial court's discretion,
such discretion is not unfettered:
[B]ecause dismissal is the most severe sanction, it
should be imposed only in extreme circumstances, and
a trial court is required to balance the equities carefully
and dismiss only where the violation of the discovery
rules is willful and the opposing party has been
prejudiced. Consequently, where a discovery sanction
either terminates the action directly or would result in
its termination by operation of law, the court must
consider multiple factors balanced against the necessity
of the sanction.
Rohm & Haas Co. v. Lin, 992 A.2d 132, 142 (Pa.Super. 2010)) (internal
quotation and citations omitted).
In City of Philadelphia v. Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5
(Breary), 604 Pa. 267, 270-71, 985 A.2d 1259, 1270 (Pa. 2009), the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court enumerated four factors for trial and appellate
courts to consider before concluding dismissal of a case constitutes a proper
sanction for a discovery violation:
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(1) the prejudice, if any, endured by the non-offending
party and the ability of the opposing party to cure any
prejudice; (2) the noncomplying party's willfulness or
bad faith in failing to provide the requested discovery
materials; (3) the importance of the excluded evidence
in light of the failure to provide the discovery; and (4)
the number of discovery violations by the offending
party.
Id. (citing Pioneer Commercial Funding Corp. v. Amer. Financial Mortg.
Corp., 797 A.2d 269 (Pa.Super. 2002), rev'd on other grounds, 855 A.2d 818(Pa. 2004)). When a discovery sanction either directly terminates the action
or would result in its termination by operation of law, the first two factors
assume greater significance. City of Philadelphia, at 286, 985 A.2d at 1271.
Following the City of Philadelphia decision, this Court set forth the
guiding principles for review of a trial court's decision to effectively dismiss a
cause of action because of a discovery violation as follows: “the nature and
severity of the discovery violation, the defaulting party's willfulness or bad
faith, prejudice to the opposing party, the ability to cure the prejudice; and
the importance of the precluded evidence in light of the failure to comply.”
Rohm & Haas, 992 A.2d at 142 (quoting Croydon Plastics Company, Inc.
v. Lower Bucks Cooling & Heating, 698 A.2d 625, 629 (Pa. Super. 1997)).
In her brief, Appellant alleges ACCT held back “key documents” and
“refus[ed] to produce the Executive Director of ACCT for deposition” until the
discovery deadline had passed and admittedly did so to prevent Appellant from
obtaining an expert. See Brief for Appellant at 24, citing, inter alia, N.T.,
2/7/20, at 77-82. She also states defense counsel failed to provide timely
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answers her request for admissions and failed to appear at the hearing on the
motion to deem the requests admitted. Brief for Appellants at 24.
First, Appellant’s initial two subclaims arise from the oral argument
pertaining to ACCT’s pretrial motion to preclude Appellant’s expert, and our
review of the testimony therefrom reveals that Appellant has mischaracterized
ACCT’s statements made at that time. N.T., 2/7/20, at 79. Mr. McNulty,
counsel for ACCT, explained Appellant repeatedly had stated she did not need
an expert at trial, and only obtained one after ACCT did so. Mr. McNulty did
not deem it to be ACCT’s burden to engage an expert and admitted it sought
one late in proceeding. He informed trial court that “if [it] wanted to preclude
both experts, [he] think[s] that’s a fair result.” Id. at 81.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, Appellant has not demonstrated what
prejudice, if any, the late disclosure caused, and we see none. Her position
that this “required them to focus their rebuttal on liability more than
anticipated” hardly rises to the level of prejudice needed under the
aforementioned caselaw to entitle a party to a new trial.
This is especially so since any prejudice that may have arisen from
pretrial discovery missteps on the part of either party was cured when both
parties agreed to the terms of the high/low agreement, which the trial court
accepted. Appellant has failed to present a valid basis on appeal upon which
the trial court should have invalidated that binding agreement.
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J-A13036-21
Therefore, we find the trial court did not abuse its discretion in failing to
grant Appellant a new trial due to the alleged discovery violations.
Order affirmed.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 7/8/21
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