E-Z Parks, Inc. v. Philadelphia Parking Authority

• Decision Date: 13 January 1988
• Docket Number: E-Z
• Citation: 532 A.2d 1272,110 Pa.Cmwlth. 629
• Parties: PARKS, INC., Appellant, v. PHILADELPHIA PARKING AUTHORITY, Appellee.
• Court: Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court

Page 1272

532 A.2d 1272

110 Pa.Cmwlth. 629

E-Z PARKS, INC., Appellant, v. PHILADELPHIA PARKING AUTHORITY, Appellee.

Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued Sept. 14, 1987.

Decided Nov. 4, 1987.

Reargument Denied Jan. 13, 1988.

Gilbert N. Abramson, Bruce L. Thall, Thomas S. McNamara, Abramson, Cogan, Kogan, Freedman & Thall, P.C., Philadelphia, for appellant.

S. David Fineman, Hunt and Fineman, P.C., Philadelphia, for appellee.

Before CRAIG, J., and BARBIERI and KALISH, Senior Judges.

KALISH, Senior Judge.

E-Z Parks, Inc. (E-Z Parks) appeals from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County which granted the motion of the Philadelphia Parking Authority (Authority) for judgment on the pleadings. The trial court found that the Authority was immune from suit under section 8541 of the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 8541. We affirm.

This case concerns a piece of property located on the south side of Vine Street, between 15th and 16th Streets in the City of Philadelphia. E-Z Parks' tenancy on the property has been the subject of two prior decisions of this court. See E-Z Parks, Inc. v. Larson, 91 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 600, 498 A.2d 1364 (1985), aff'd per curiam, 509 Pa. 496, 503 A.2d 931 (1986) (E-Z Parks I ), and E-Z Parks, Inc. v. Philadelphia Parking Authority, --- Pa.Commonwealth Ct. ---, 521 A.2d 71 (1987) (E-Z Parks II ). The facts relevant herein are that on May 27, 1983, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (Department) and E-Z Parks entered into a lease whereby E-Z Parks would operate a parking lot upon the property for a period of five years, subject to termination upon ninety days notice by the Department in the event that all or any portion of the property was required "for construction of the highway or related transportation purposes."

Subsequently, on January 17, 1984, while the Department's lease with E-Z Parks was still in force, the Department entered into a joint use agreement with the Authority under which the Authority would lease the property for ninety-nine years and construct a parking garage on the site. On November 21, 1984, the Department notified E-Z Parks that its lease was being terminated "for the construction of the Vine Street Expressway."

E-Z Parks' first legal maneuver was to file a four-count complaint in this court's original jurisdiction. ¹ E-Z Parks I. The first count was based upon section 2003(e) of The Administrative Code of 1929, ² pertaining to the Department's authority, or lack of authority, to buy land. The second and third counts were directed solely against the Department for breach of the lease, and the fourth count sought damages and injunctive relief against the Authority for tortious interference with the lease between E-Z Parks and the Department.

Ruling upon the Department's and the Authority's preliminary objections, this court sustained the objections to the first count, finding that E-Z Parks failed to state a cause of action upon which relief could be granted. The court also sustained objections as to counts two and three, finding that these counts were exclusively within the jurisdiction of the Board of Claims. As to the fourth count, the court dismissed E-Z Parks' claim for monetary damages against the Authority, but ruled that E-Z Parks' claim for injunctive relief could proceed. Since count four was directed solely against the Authority, a local agency, this court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter, and ordered that part of the case transferred to the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County. E-Z Parks I. E-Z Parks appealed this court's decision and our Supreme Court affirmed.

The present suit was filed on May 29, 1986, seeking compensatory and punitive damages ³ from the Authority for the Authority's alleged tortious interference with the lease between E-Z Parks and the Department, as well as on the basis of a civil conspiracy between the Department and the Authority to deny E-Z Parks its rights under the lease. ⁴ The Authority then moved for judgment on the pleadings on four separate grounds. The first ground asserted was that E-Z Parks' action was barred by section 8541 of the Judicial Code because the causes of action contained in the complaint did not fall within any of the eight exceptions to governmental immunity provided in section 8542(b) of the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 8542(b). The other objections asserted that the action was barred by the doctrines of res judicata or collateral estoppel, that E-Z Parks had failed to join an indispensable party (the Department), and that the complaint failed to state a cause of action upon which relief could be granted. The trial court granted the Authority's motion on the basis of governmental immunity without passing upon the other grounds. This appeal followed.

In reviewing a grant of judgment on the pleadings, our scope of review is limited to determining whether the trial court committed an error of law or abused its discretion. Agostine v. School District of Philadelphia, --- Pa.Commonwealth Ct. ---, 527 A.2d 193 (1987). A motion for judgment on the pleadings is in the nature of a demurrer in which all of the opposing party's well -pleaded allegations are viewed as true, but only those facts specifically admitted by the objecting party may be considered against him. Karns v. Tony Vitale Fireworks Corp., 436 Pa. 181, 259 A.2d 687 (1969). Such motions may only be granted in cases where no material facts are at issue and the law is so clear that a trial would be a fruitless exercise. Beardell v. Western Wayne School District, 91 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 348, 496 A.2d 1373 (1985).

E-Z Parks' initial argument is that the immunity provided local agencies by section 8541 applies only to physical injuries and not economic injuries. For this contention, E-Z Parks relies upon the language of section 8541, which provides:

Except as otherwise provided in this subchapter, no local agency shall be liable for any damages on account of any injury to a person or property caused by the act of the local agency or an employee thereof or any other person.

42 Pa.C.S. § 8541. E-Z Parks argues that the legislature's use of the phrase "injury to a person or property" in section 8541 evinces a legislative intent to exclude torts involving purely economic injury from that section's operation.

E-Z Parks further asserts that it was the legislature's intent to make the governmental immunity provided by section 8541 narrower than the sovereign immunity granted the Commonwealth under section 8521(a) of the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 8521(a), and this is shown by the language of section 8521(a), which states that "[e]xcept as otherwise provided in this subchapter, no provision of this title shall constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity for the purposes of 1 Pa.C.S. § 2310 (relating to sovereign immunity reaffirmed; specific waiver) or otherwise." 1 Pa.C.S. § 2310 reads as follows:

Pursuant to section 11 of Article I of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, it is hereby declared to be the intent of the General Assembly that the Commonwealth, and its officials and employees acting within the scope of their duties, shall continue to enjoy sovereign and official immunity and remain immune from suit except as the General Assembly shall specifically waive the immunity. When the General Assembly specifically waives sovereign immunity, a claim against the Commonwealth and its officials and employees shall be brought only in such manner and in such courts and in such cases as directed by the provisions of Title 42 (relating to judiciary and judicial procedures) unless otherwise specifically authorized by statute.

The theory is that because the grant of sovereign immunity as provided above is absolute and, whereas the immunity of local agencies is limited to "injuries to a person or property," the grant of immunity to local agencies must be narrower than that of sovereign immunity.

Proceeding from this premise, E-Z Parks argues that since the phrase "injury to a person or property" is not defined in Chapter 85 of the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 8501-8564, or section 102 of the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 102, we must construe the term in accordance with its supposed common-law meaning. E-Z Parks then cites a half-dozen cases from other jurisdictions in support of its interpretation of the phrase "injury to a person or property."

We find E-Z Parks' argument to be without merit. The difference in language between section 8521(a) and section 8541 does not show a legislative intent to make the governmental immunity of local agencies narrower than that of the sovereign immunity of the Commonwealth; rather, the difference in wording reflects a legislative recognition that sovereign immunity is grounded in Article I, section 11 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, whereas the present governmental immunity is solely statutory. Our Supreme Court held in Mayle v. Pennsylvania Department of Highways, 479 Pa. 384, 388 A.2d 709 (1978), that while Article 1, section 11 of the Pennsylvania Constitution did not compel the doctrine of sovereign immunity, the legislature could declare the doctrine of sovereign immunity to be the law of Pennsylvania. 1 Pa.C.S. § 2310 is the legislature's proclamation that sovereign immunity is the constitutional rule.

Further, if the statute is unclear, the cardinal objective of statutory construction is to ascertain and give effect to the legislative intent underlying the legislation. Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission v. Alto-Reste Park Cemetery Association, 453 Pa. 124, 306 A.2d 881 (1973); Detweiler v. Derry Township Municipal Authority, 29 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 277, 370 A.2d 810 (1977). Our Supreme Court has already stated that the legislative intent underlying the legislature's enactment of Subchapter C of Chapter 85 of the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 8541-8564, was to insulate political subdivisions (and other governmental bodies such as parking authorities) from...