Iacaponi v. New Amsterdam Casualty Company, 16259.
| Decision Date | 23 June 1967 |
| Docket Number | No. 16259.,16259. |
| Citation | 379 F.2d 311 |
| Parties | Dino IACAPONI, Appellant, v. NEW AMSTERDAM CASUALTY COMPANY, a Corporation. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
Harry Alan Sherman, Pittsburgh, Pa., for appellant.
William C. Walker, Pittsburgh, Pa. (Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote, Pittsburgh, Pa., on the brief), for appellee.
Before HASTIE and SEITZ, Circuit Judges and BODY, District Judge.
The appellant, plaintiff below, was seriously injured in an industrial accident. The appellee, as insurer of the appellant's purported employer, induced the appellant to sign a "workmen's compensation agreement" which subsequently defeated appellant's effort to recover as an "independent contractor" in a negligence action he brought against his purported employer in a state court. Alleging that the insurance company induced him to sign the "workmen's compensation agreement" by fraud, the appellant has brought this diversity action against the insurance company for damages.
The present complaint asserts, among other things, that in the state negligence action the plaintiff raised the issue of fraud in obtaining the "workmen's compensation agreement", but was ultimately denied recovery. Indeed, the present complaint alleges that he "has exhausted the state judicial remedies to set aside the default judgment based upon the fraudulent `workmen's compensation agreement', without relief therefrom".
The appellee moved to dismiss the present complaint upon several grounds, among them that the state court's rejection of the claim of fraud made the matter res judicata. Under Rule 8(c), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, res judicata is an affirmative defense, to be pleaded as such. However, in this case the fact that the fraud upon which this suit is based had been litigated in the state court appears on the face of the complaint. Moreover, neither in the state court nor in the court below does it appear that the plaintiff made an issue of the manner in which the res judicata issue had been raised. Rather, he undertook to contest it on its merits and lost.
The court below took judicial notice of the state proceedings and stated that its "examination of the Opinion of that Common Pleas Court shows that the Court considered these allegations and the evidence in support of them thoroughly and found that there was * * * no evidence that he was the victim of fraud." Similarly, in affirming that judgment the Supreme Court of...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
In re Randall
...and Procedure Civil 3d § 1357 at 729 (2006). In re Faust, 353 B.R. 94, 100-01 (footnote omitted); see also Iacaponi v. New Amsterdam Casualty Co., 379 F.2d 311, 312 (3d Cir.1967), cert. denied, 389 U.S. 1054, 88 S.Ct. 802, 19 L.Ed.2d 849 (1968); Zhang v. Haven-Scott Associates, Inc., 1996 W......
-
Sparks v. Wyeth Laboratories, Inc.
...284 U.S. 151, 52 S.Ct. 69, 76 L.Ed. 214 (1931); Iacaponi v. New Amsterdam Casualty Co., 258 F.Supp. 880 (W.D.Pa., 1966), aff'd, 379 F.2d 311 (3rd Cir., 1967), cert. den., 389 U.S. 1054, 88 S.Ct. 802, 19 L.Ed.2d 849. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has held that a state may abolish a right of jur......
-
Quilici v. Village of Morton Grove
...Amendment right to indictment by a grand jury); Iacaponi v. New Amsterdam Casualty Co., 258 F.Supp. 880 (W.D.Pa.1966), aff'd, 379 F.2d 311 (3d Cir. 1967), cert. denied, 389 U.S. 1054, 88 S.Ct. 802, 19 L.Ed.2d 849 (1968) (Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial in civil The language in Mallo......
-
Overseas Motors, Inc. v. Import Motors Limited, Inc.
...Hogan, 476 F.2d 1182, 1186 (7th Cir. 1973); Bradford Audio Corp. v. Pious, 392 F.2d 67, 73 (2d Cir. 1968); Iacaponi v. New Amsterdam Casualty Co., 379 F.2d 311, 312 (3d Cir. 1967); Black v. York, 300 Ky. 166, 168, 189 S.W.2d 599 22 This may result from restrictions upon pleadings or from th......