Opinion ID: 3011263
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Public Nuisance Claim (Count X)

Text: [A] public nuisance is `an unreasonable interference with a right common to the general public.'  Philadelphia Elec. Co. v. Hercules, Inc., 762 F.2d 303, 315 (3d Cir. 1985) (quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts S 821B(1) (1979)). In order to recover damages in a private action for public nuisance, a plaintiff must have suffered a harm of greater magnitude and of a different kind than that which the general public suffered. See id.; see also Pennsylvania Soc'y for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals v. Bravo Enters., Inc., 237 A.2d 342, 348 (Pa. 1968). The law requires greater and different injury because (1) it is difficult to draw[ ] any satisfactory line for [any] public nuisance and (2) to avoid multiplicity of actions[,] invasions of rights common to all of the public should be left to be remedied by public action by officials. Restatement (Second) of Torts S 821C cmt. b (1979). The District Court found that the Hospitals did not sufficiently allege that they suffered a harm different from and of greater magnitude than the harm suffered by the general public. We agree. The Hospitals' injuries are 29 derivative of the nonpaying patients' injuries, and the Hospitals are one of numerous parties in the public harmed by the alleged conspiracy. In these circumstances, remedying the source of the conspiracy is more properly a task for public officials. The District Court correctly dismissed the public nuisance claim. 2. Aiding and Abetting and Civil Conspiracy Claims (Counts XI and XV) Aiding and abetting and civil conspiracy claims require an underlying tort cause of action. See Strickland v. University of Scranton, 700 A.2d 979, 987-88 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1997) (elements of civil conspiracy); Caplan v. Fellheimer Eichen Braverman & Kaskey, 884 F. Supp. 181, 184 (E.D. Pa. 1995) ([a] claim for civil conspiracy can proceed only when there is a cause of action for an underlying act). The District Court dismissed the aiding and abetting and civil conspiracy claims for lack of an underlying action, and we uphold that dismissal. The Hospitals do not dispute this reasoning, though they argue that an underlying cause of action exists in the antitrust, RICO, and other state law claims. 3. Restitution, Unjust Enrichment and Quantum Meruit (Counts XIII and XIV) In discussing unjust enrichment claims, the Steamfitters Court explained: [i]n the tort setting, an unjust enrichment claim is essentially another way of stating a traditional tort claim. . . . [There is] no justification for permitting plaintiffs to proceed on their unjust enrichment claim once [it is] determined that the District Court properly dismissed the traditional tort claims . . . 171 F.3d at 936-37. Following this reasoning, the District Court dismissed the Hospitals' restitution and unjust enrichment claims against the Tobacco Companies since the traditional tort claims were properly dismissed. We believe this is a proper reading of Steamfitters. The Hospitals now argue that their unjust enrichment 30 claim is not based in tort, but rather in an implied contract for the benefit they conferred on the Tobacco Companies by providing care to nonpaying patients.12 This argument dresses the unjust enrichment claim in quantum meruit terms. Quantum meruit is a quasi-contractual remedy in which a contract is implied-in-law under a theory of unjust enrichment; the contract is one that is implied in law, and `not an actual contract at all.'  Hershey Foods Corp. v. Ralph Chapek, Inc., 828 F.2d 989, 998-99 (3d Cir. 1987) (quoting Ragnar Benson, Inc. v. Bethel Mart Assocs., 454 A.2d 599, 603 (1982)). The Hospitals' quantum meruit claim is based on the theory that by paying for the medical services required by nonpaying patients, the Hospitals discharged the Tobacco Companies' legal duties and saved them from bearing costs caused by their fraudulent and wrongful conduct. The District Court found this claim to be without merit. We agree. Unjust enrichment is . . . an equitable doctrine[, with the following elements:] benefits conferred on one party by another, appreciation of such benefits by the recipient, and acceptance and retention of these benefits under such circumstances that it would be inequitable [or unjust] for the recipient to retain the benefits without payment of value. 16 Summary of Pa. Jur. 2d Commercial Law S 2.2 (1994) (citing various cases). In the present case, the Tobacco Companies had no legal obligation to pay the medical expenses of smokers, and thus the Hospitals' provision of medical services did not benefit the Tobacco Companies by removing their obligation. Cf. Oregon Laborers-Employers Health & Welfare Trust Fund v. Philip Morris Inc., 185 F.3d 957, 968 (9th Cir. 1999) (discussing unjust enrichment under Oregon law) _________________________________________________________________ 12. We reject the Hospitals' contention that there was an implied contract between the Hospitals and the Tobacco Companies in which the latter implicitly promised to compensate the Hospitals for unreimbursed medical care. The claim that the Hospitals reasonably expected to be paid is not supported by their factual allegations and is inconsistent with a major factual premise of their case -- that they did not know of the Tobacco Companies' conspiracy. Under no set of facts alleged can we find that the Tobacco Companies ever implicitly promised to pay for these services. 31 (Without a legal obligation on the part of defendants to pay, the payment by plaintiffs did not `benefit' defendants.). In addition, since the Hospitals had an independent obligation to provide health care to nonpaying patients, incidental benefit to the Tobacco Companies is not enough to maintain an action; the nonpaying patients got the main benefit, not the Tobacco Companies. See Restatement of Restitution S 106 (1937) (A person who, incidentally to the performance of his own duty . . . has conferred a benefit upon another, is not thereby entitled to contribution.). Even if some benefit went to the Tobacco Companies, it is unclear that allowing them to retain it is unjust. First, the benefit was incidental to the Hospitals' performance of its duty, and second, the Hospitals did not have a reasonable expectation of payment from the Tobacco Companies. See Aloe Coal Co. v. Department of Transp., 643 A.2d 757, 767 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1994) (incidental benefit and lack of expectation by plaintiffs showed that benefit was not unjust). Lastly, the distance between the Hospitals' provision of medical care and the Tobacco Companies' alleged benefit show that the benefit was not unjust. For all these reasons we affirm the District Court's dismissal of the Hospitals' quantum meruit and unjust enrichment claims. 4. Indemnity Based on Intentional and/or Reckless Conduct Claim (Count XII) Under Pennsylvania law, indemnity is available only (1) where there is an express contract to indemnify, or (2) where the party seeking indemnity is vicariously or secondarily liable for the indemnitor's acts. Richardson v. John F. Kennedy Mem'l Hosp., 838 F. Supp. 979, 989 (E.D. Pa. 1993). The Hospitals acknowledge that no express contract existed and that they are not secondarily liable. Thus, the District Court correctly held that, under Pennsylvania law, an action for indemnity is unavailable.