Quinn v. Tritt et al

Filing 65

ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ;(1) The Report of Judge Mehalchick, (Doc. 62), is ADOPTED IN ITS ENTIRETY;(2) SCMWAs motion to dismiss, (Doc. 32), is DENIED;(3) The case is REMANDED to Judge Mehalchick for further proceedings. ORDER REFERRING CASE to Magistrate Judge Karoline Mehalchick; ; denying 32 Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim; adopting 62 Report and Recommendations.Signed by Honorable Malachy E Mannion on 2/13/20. (bs)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
PHILLIP QUINN
Plaintiff

:

BRENDA L. TRITT, et al.
Defendants

CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:18-632

:

v.

:

(MANNION, D.J.)
(MEHALCHICK, M.J.)

:
:
ORDER

Presently before the court is the report and recommendation (“Report”)
of Magistrate Judge Karoline Mehalchick, (Doc. 62), which recommends that
a motion to dismiss, (Doc. 32), filed by defendants Schuylkill County
Municipal Water Authority and its Executive Director Pat Caulfield,
(collectively “SCMWA”) be denied. No party has filed objections to the
Report.
Where no objections are made to a report and recommendation, the
court should, as a matter of good practice, “satisfy itself that there is no clear
error on the face of the record in order to accept the recommendation.”
Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b), advisory committee notes; see also Univac Dental Co.
v. Dentsply Intern., Inc., 702 F.Supp.2d 465, 469 (2010) (citing Henderson
v. Carlson, 812 F.2d 874, 878 (3d Cir. 1987) (explaining judges should give
some review to every report and recommendation)). Nevertheless, whether

timely objections are made or not, the district court may accept, not accept,
or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the
magistrate judge. 28 U.S.C. §636(b)(1); M.D.Pa. Local Rule 72.3.
On February 21, 2019, SCMWA filed the present motion to dismiss,
(Doc. 32), arguing that Quinn has failed to state a claim sufficient to
overcome the immunity granted to it by the Political Subdivision Tort Claims
Act, 42 Pa.C.S. §§8341 et seq., (“PSTCA”), which grants local agencies
immunity from liability for damages “on account of any injury to a person or
property caused by any act of the local agency or an employee thereof or
any other person.” 42 Pa.C.S. §8541. On April 26, 2019, Quinn filed a brief
in opposition, (Doc. 42), and on May 9, 2019, SCMWA filed a reply brief,
(Doc. 43).
Judge Mehalchick recommends that SCMWA’s motion to dismiss be
denied because the immunity granted by the PSTCA does not extend to
SCMWA, since Quinn’s pleadings have satisfied the four elements of the
utility service facilities’ exemption set forth in Metropolitan Edison Co. v. City
of Reading, 162 A.3d 414, 423 (Pa. 2017). In her Report, Judge Mehalchick
observes that Quinn’s amended complaint, when construing it liberally as we
must, makes indistinguishable allegations from those of the plaintiffs in Gall
by Gall v. Allegheny County Health Dept., 555 A.2d 786 (Pa. 1989), which
-2-

the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held were actionable and, in that case,
likewise not barred by governmental immunity because the plaintiffs satisfied
the utility service facilities’ exemption. Accordingly, Judge Mehalchick
recommends denial of the motion to dismiss.
Here, having reviewed the entire Report, as well as the pleadings, the
record, and pertinent case law, the court agrees with the sound reasoning
which lead Judge Mehalchick to her recommendation of denial. As such, the
court adopts the Report of Judge Mehalchick as the opinion of this court.
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
(1) The Report of Judge Mehalchick, (Doc. 62), is ADOPTED
IN ITS ENTIRETY;
(2) SCMWA’s motion to dismiss, (Doc. 32), is DENIED;
(3) The case is REMANDED to Judge Mehalchick for further
proceedings.

s/ Malachy E. Mannion
MALACHY E. MANNION
United States District Judge
DATE: February 13, 2020
18-632-02

-3-