Consolidation Coal Co. v. District 5, United Mine Workers of America
| Decision Date | 30 November 1984 |
| Citation | 485 A.2d 1118,336 Pa.Super. 354 |
| Parties | CONSOLIDATION COAL COMPANY, a corporation, Appellant, v. DISTRICT 5, UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA, an unincorporated association; William Allen, Daniel Kuwalo, Larry Cani, Mike Kuzma, Ron Stipanovich, George Paxon, Jr., Joe Rostcheck, Ray Machusko, Paul Machusko, Robert Corey, Joe Sarso, Jack Schmitt, Patrick Niedemeyer, Robert Paul, James Lacko, Thomas Taylor, individuals. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Superior Court |
Argued April 12, 1984. [Copyrighted Material Omitted]
Leonard Fornella, Pittsburgh, for appellant.
Ronald G. Backer, Pittsburgh, for appellees.
Before ROWLEY, JOHNSON and POPOVICH, JJ.
This is an appeal from an Order granting the appellees' preliminary objections and dismissing the appellant's complaint. In May of 1981 appellant, the Consolidation Coal Company, filed a complaint in equity requesting an injunction against (1) the International Union, United Mine Workers of America, (2) District No. 5, United Mine Workers of America, (3) Larry Cani, and (4) all those acting in concert with them. A preliminary injunction was granted which prohibited the appellees from picketing in any manner that would interfere with the business of the appellant. A hearing for a permanent injunction was then scheduled for September 15, 1981. The picketing on appellant's premises ceased shortly after the preliminary injunction had been granted, so the appellant filed a motion, on September 10, 1981, to withdraw the request for a permanent injunction. The trial judge granted this motion, noting on the Order that the action was being "dismissed as moot." Reproduced Record at 271. In March of 1982, however, appellant initiated a new action, based on the same incident, requesting compensation for damages resulting from the appellees' alleged tortious interference with the appellant's contractual relations. Appellees filed preliminary objections to which the appellant filed an answer. The trial court then heard oral arguments. The trial judge acting on his own initiative, asked whether the damages action should be precluded because of the prior equity action. He concluded that the dismissal of the equity complaint barred the appellant's subsequent suit for damages, since the equity court had the power to hear a claim for damages and the appellant had failed to raise any such claim during the equity action. In addition to his conclusion that the appellant's action for damages was precluded by the prior equity action, the trial court judge adopted three of the appellees' preliminary objections as conclusions of law. This appeal, then, is from the order dismissing the appellant's claim for damages and granting the appellees' preliminary objections. We reverse and remand.
Appellant contends that the trial court erred in dismissing the damages action and in adopting the appellees' preliminary objections as conclusions of law. Appellant raises five specific issues on appeal: 1) whether the trial judge had the authority to raise the issue of claim preclusion himself when the appellees themselves failed to raise this issue; 2) whether the dismissal of the equity action constituted a final judgment on the merits which would bar a subsequent civil action for damages; 3) whether the appellant's state law claim for tortious interference with contract is preempted by federal law, thus depriving a state court of jurisdiction to resolve the dispute; 4) whether a permanent severance of an employment relationship must be shown before one can recover under a theory of tortious interference with contractual relations; and 5) whether the appellees' conduct was privileged such that they are immune from a suit for damages arising out of their picketing.
Appellant first contends that the trial judge erred in raising the claim preclusion on his own. The trial judge admits in his opinion that it was the court which raised this question first.
The appropriate procedure for raising a question of res judicata is contained in Pa.R.C.P. 1030. Res judicata is an affirmative defense which "shall be pleaded in a responsive pleading under the heading 'New Matter.' " Pa.R.C.P. 1030. The appellees did not plead res judicata in this manner. Nor did the appellees specifically mention res judicata as one of their preliminary objections. Thus, it was procedurally incorrect for the trial judge to challenge appellant's damages action after the appellees had failed to plead res judicata as an affirmative defense.
Despite this procedural defect, it would not serve judicial economy to end the inquiry at this juncture. If we were to remand this case at this point so that the parties could cure this procedural defect, this Court might have to review the substance of the same res judicata question at a later date. This type of dilemma existed in the case of Brown v. Hahn, 419 Pa. 42, 50, 213 A.2d 342, 346 (1965), wherein the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said:
Nothing is to be gained by sending the parties back to the trial court to set their procedural house in order before coming once again to this Court with the identical controversy.
See also Callery, et al. v. Blythe Township Municipal Authority, 432 Pa. 307, 243 A.2d 385 (1968); Ziemba v. Hagerty, 214 Pa.Super. 381, 261 A.2d 342 (1969). Rather than to delay unnecessarily this appeal, then, we will not review the substance of the res judicata question here presented.
Appellant maintains that it was error for the trial court to conclude that the dismissal of the equity action precluded the appellant from bringing a subsequent claim for damages arising out of the same incident. This Court has determined that an action at equity can have a res judicata effect upon a subsequent action at law:
Because an adjudication in equity is as conclusive as a judgment at law ... it is of no consequence that the earlier suit was brought in equity and the later action at law.
Exner v. Exner, 268 Pa.Super. 253, 257, 407 A.2d 1342, 1344 (1979).
An essential prerequisite to the application of the doctrine of res judicata, however, is that a valid and final judgment on the merits has been entered in a previous action. The res judicata doctrine is a judicial creation aimed at preventing a multiplicity of suits. It protects a party from the vexation of having to defend itself against a claim for which a final judgment has already been entered. Furthermore, it serves the public interest by keeping the courts clear of disputes that have been decisively resolved. But as a matter of fairness to the party which believes it has a valid claim, the doctrine is not applied unless there in fact was a previous action in which the party did present, or had the opportunity to present, its claim. Hence, the general rule is that the doctrine of res judicata cannot be applied to preclude a claim absent a final judgment on the merits in a previous action. Bearoff v. Bearoff Brothers, Inc., 458 Pa. 494, 327 A.2d 72 (1974); General Accident Fire & Life Assurance Corp., Ltd. v. Flamini, 299 Pa.Super. 312, 445 A.2d 770 (1982).
The appellant's damages action could only be precluded, therefore, if there had been a final judgment on the merits entered in the appellant's equity action. In the equity action, the appellant was granted a preliminary injunction but withdrew its request for a permanent injunction hearing. The essential inquiry, then, is whether a preliminary injunction or the withdrawal of a request for a permanent injunction can constitute a final judgment on the merits which would preclude the appellant from bringing a second action for damages.
A preliminary injunction cannot serve as a judgment on the merits since, by definition, it is a temporary remedy granted until that time when the parties' dispute can be completely resolved. Likewise, the fact that the request for a permanent injunction was withdrawn means that a full hearing, wherein the entire controversy could be resolved and final judgment entered, was never held. Thus, it is manifestly unjust to conclude that the appellant's claim for damages is barred by the previous equity action, when that action was never fully litigated.
In their brief, appellees contend that there is a strong public policy in Pennsylvania against splitting a cause of action. Thus, appellee argues that the equity action should bar the action at law, since both proceedings arose from the same cause of action. What the appellees fail to appreciate, however, is the rationale that underlies this policy. A cause of action cannot be split into two separate claims since it is seen as inappropriate to drag a party through the litigation process twice. But when, as here, the first action is never fully litigated, a party is not subjected to the inconvenience of having to re-litigate. Furthermore, when a final judgment is not entered in the first action, a controversy remains for the courts to resolve. Thus, the underlying reasons for application of the res judicata doctrine are simply not present in the instant case.
In support of their argument that a cause of action cannot be split into two separate claims, appellees rely on examples in which a judgment on the merits was indeed entered in the first action. Appellees cite Spinelli v. Maxwell, 430 Pa 478, 243 A.2d 425 (1968), for instance, for the proposition that in a trespass action, a party that recovers for damage to property cannot maintain a separate action to recover damages for personal injuries suffered. In Spinelli, however, the plaintiff recovered property damages only after an arbitration panel had granted him an award and the trial court had entered judgment on his behalf. Thus, in Spinelli, there was a full hearing on the merits wherein the plaintiff had the opportunity to raise...
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