Hutchison ex rel. Hutchison v. Luddy
| Decision Date | 24 November 1999 |
| Citation | 560 Pa. 51,742 A.2d 1052 |
| Parties | Michael S. HUTCHISON, Jr., by Mary J. HUTCHISON, Parent and Natural Guardian, Appellants v. Father Francis LUDDY, St. Therese's Catholic Church, Bishop James Hogan and Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, Appellees. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Supreme Court |
Thomas L. Cooper, Pittsburgh, Richard M. Serbin, Altoona, for Michael & Mary Hutchision.
John A. Bednarz, Jr., Wilkes Barre, James F. Mundy, Philadelphia, for Amicus-Pa. TLA.
Carl A. Eck, Louis C. Long, Pittsburgh, for St.Therese's/Bishop Hogan/Dioces.
David J. Weaver, Johnstown, for Father Francis Luddy.
Before FLAHERTY, C.J., and ZAPPALA, CAPPY, CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN and SAYLOR, JJ.
OPINION ANNOUNCING THE JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
Michael S. Hutchison, Jr. (Michael) appeals from an Order of the Superior Court that reversed an Order of the Court of Common Pleas of Blair County (trial court) entering judgment in favor of Michael and against Father Francis Luddy (Luddy) and St. Therese's Catholic Church (St.Therese's), Bishop James Hogan (Bishop Hogan), and the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown (Diocese). We affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion.
Michael, who is mildly retarded and has a low I.Q., first met Luddy in 1976, when Luddy became his priest and religious teacher. Approximately one year later, when Michael was ten to eleven years old, Luddy began sexually molesting him. Luddy often took Michael and his brothers out to eat after religion classes, and allowed the boys to watch television in his bedroom at St. Therese's Rectory. He became Michael's godfather, and would ask Michael's mother to take the boys out to dinner. Luddy also traveled with Michael and his brothers, and would often buy the boys toys and candy. During this period, from 1976 to 1982, Luddy molested Michael approximately fifty to seventy-five times in Luddy's rectory bedroom. By the time Michael was fifteen years old, he became accustomed to turning to Luddy for advice and counsel on personal and religious matters, as well as for "nice things," such as trips and eating out, which were usually intertwined with sexual molestation. Two other incidents of molestation occurred in 1982 and 1984, when Michael was fifteen and seventeen years old, respectively. At the time of both incidents, Michael was living with his family in Akron, Ohio, and ran away from home to talk to Luddy about problems he was experiencing at home, and Luddy was working at St. Mary's Church in Windber, Pennsylvania, where he had been reassigned in 1980. Michael testified that he specifically requested that they not engage in any sexual activity. Nevertheless, on both occasions, Michael stayed in a motel room in Altoona at the suggestion of Luddy,1 and Luddy visited Michael, talked with him, and molested him. Only these last two incidents form the basis of this civil action, because the earlier incidents are all barred by the statute of limitations.
In 1988, Michael filed a Complaint against Luddy, St. Therese's, Bishop Hogan and the Diocese, alleging causes of action for, inter alia, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent retention and supervision. At trial, Michael testified about the 1982 and 1984 incidents, and introduced the testimony of other boys whom Luddy had abused, including Michael's brother Mark Hutchison (Mark). These witnesses testified that Luddy had abused them, using the same pattern of befriending them, treating them to gifts and trips, and molesting them. One boy testified about two trips to Puerto Rico, during which Luddy repeatedly molested him.
On cross-examination, Luddy admitted that he had molested numerous children, including molesting Mark hundreds of times throughout a period of more than four years. He testified that he molested the first child in 1967, approximately two years after his ordination, and that he continued to molest child after child within the Diocese in the years that followed, usually in the rectories where he lived and worked as an assistant pastor. He was supervised by a Diocesan pastor. Luddy admitted that he took many trips with boys from the parish, during which he would molest them.
Michael also presented evidence that the Diocese had actual notice of Luddy's pedophilia since 1967 to 1969, when Luddy was assigned to St. Mark's Church. At that time, a fourteen or fifteen year old boy reported two incidents of molestation to Father Louis Mulvehill, Luddy's supervising priest at St. Mark's. Michael's mother and Mark testified that, in 1981, they reported Luddy's sexual abuse of Mark to two priests in the Diocese. Furthermore, Monsignor Roy Kline, who was Luddy's supervising priest at St. Therese's, testified that he often saw Luddy take Michael, Mark, and other boys into his rectory bedroom, and that he should have known that Luddy was engaged in pedophilic behavior.
After hearing eleven weeks of testimony, the jury returned its verdict on April 21, 1994. The jury specifically found that St. Therese's, Bishop Hogan and the Diocese knew Luddy was molesting children, that they were negligent in their retention and supervision of Luddy, that they had a pattern and practice of ignoring allegations of pedophilic behavior among priests, and that their negligence was a substantial factor in bringing harm to Michael. The jury attributed liability thirty-six percent to Luddy, eleven percent to St. Therese's, and fifty-three percent to Bishop Hogan and the Diocese and awarded Michael a total of $519,000.00 in compensatory damages. The jury also found that the conduct of all the defendants was outrageous, and therefore awarded Michael punitive damages totaling $1,050,000.00 (fifty thousand dollars against Luddy and one million dollars against St. Therese's, Bishop Hogan and the Diocese). St. Therese's, Bishop Hogan and the Diocese filed Post-trial Motions, which the trial court denied, and then appealed to the Superior Court.2 In a reported Opinion, the Superior Court reversed the jury's verdicts, holding that Michael had failed to establish liability pursuant to Restatement (Second) of Torts § 317 (Restatement Section 317). This section, entitled "Duty of Master to Control Conduct of Servant," provides as follows:
A master is under a duty to exercise reasonable care so to control his servant while acting outside the scope of his employment as to prevent him from intentionally harming others or from so conducting himself as to create an unreasonable risk of bodily harm to them, if
(i) is upon the premises in possession of the master or upon which the servant is privileged to enter only as his servant, or
(ii) is using a chattel of the master, and
(i) knows or has reason to know that he has the ability to control his servant, and
(ii) knows or should know of the necessity and opportunity for exercising such control.
A majority of the Superior Court panel held that the Altoona motel room, the site of the 1982 and 1984 incidents, did not constitute a premises in the possession of St. Therese's, Bishop Hogan and the Diocese, nor one that Luddy was privileged to enter only as their servant, and they therefore held that Michael could not establish liability pursuant to Restatement Section 317. The majority did not address any other issues. Judge Ford Elliott dissented, concluding that Luddy was privileged to enter the motel room only as a priest, and that Michael had proven that St. Therese's, Bishop Hogan and the Diocese knew of Luddy's pedophilic behavior and knew or should have known of the necessity for controlling such behavior. Accordingly, Judge Ford Elliott would have affirmed the jury's verdicts as to liability and compensatory damages. She would have reversed the imposition of punitive damages, however, because she believed that there was insufficient evidence of malicious or wanton behavior.
In reversing the trial court's entry of judgment on the jury's verdict, the Superior Court essentially entered a judgment n.o.v. Therefore, in reviewing the Superior Court's decision, we must view the evidence in the light most favorable to Michael as the verdict winner, giving him the benefit of every reasonable inference arising from the evidence and resolving any conflict in the evidence in his favor. See, e.g., Moure v. Raeuchle, 529 Pa. 394, 604 A.2d 1003 (1992).
In his Complaint, Michael pleads numerous causes of action against Luddy, St. Therese's, Bishop Hogan and the Diocese. In Count Five of the Complaint, Michael alleges that St. Therese's, Bishop Hogan and the Diocese knew or should have known that Luddy was predisposed to engage in pedophilic behavior, and, therefore, they owed a duty to Michael and other parishioners to ensure that Luddy would not be in a position that would permit him to have contact with children. Michael further alleges that St. Therese's, Bishop Hogan and the Diocese breached their duty by: (a) putting Luddy in a position in which he would have contact with children; (b) allowing Luddy to remain in that position; (c) failing to secure treatment for Luddy; and (d) failing to supervise Luddy adequately so as to prevent him from engaging in pedophilic behavior. In Count Six of the Complaint, Michael alleges that the Diocese had a longstanding practice of ignoring pedophilic behavior by priests, e.g., by intentionally failing to investigate reports of abuse; refraining from taking disciplinary action against priests known to have abused children; allowing such priests to continue to participate, without supervision, in activities involving children; and concealing from parents reports of Luddy's misconduct. Thus, in general terms, Counts Five and Six of the Complaint set forth a cause of action against St. Therese's, Bishop Hogan and the Diocese for negligent...
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