Opinion ID: 781284
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Appellants' Negligence Claim

Text: 41 In addition to its claim for damages resulting from Frankford's breach of fiduciary duty, plaintiffs brought a claim for negligence under Pennsylvania law with respect to Srein's personal investments and those of the two plans. The jury found that Frankford was negligent with respect to the Madsen policy and for Srein's personal investment losses. (JA 538.) However, the jury found no negligence with respect to Frankford's role with respect to the Chamness policy. (JA 540.) It further determined that Srein suffered $566,000 in damages but that Srein was a 70% cause of those damages. (JA 539.) The District Court applied Pennsylvania's Comparative Negligence Act to the jury's verdict and entered judgment for Frankford on the negligence claims. 42 Plaintiff moved for a new trial after judgment arguing, first, that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding that Srein was guilty of contributory negligence with respect to his investment losses, and second, that the District Court erred in failing to instruct the jury that, under the Pennsylvania Comparative Negligence Act, a finding that Srein was more than fifty percent at fault for his losses would require the court to enter a judgment in favor of the defendant. 8 The District Court denied that motion.
43 Plaintiffs' claims for negligence were traversed by the defense of contributory negligence. Under the governing Pennsylvania Comparative Negligence Act, a verdict that a plaintiff was more than fifty percent at fault requires the trial court to enter a judgment for the defendant. Pennsylvania courts have modulated the rule to the extent of requiring a judge trying a case governed by Pennsylvania's law to include in a jury charge information to that effect. See Peair v. Home Ass'n of Enola Legion No. 751, 287 Pa.Super. 400, 430 A.2d 665, 671 (1981). 44 Here the District Court instructed the jury that [i]f you find that... the plaintiff was contributorily negligent and that the plaintiff's contributory negligence was a substantial factor in bringing about plaintiff's own harm, the fact that the plaintiff was contributorily negligent will not bar recovery by the plaintiff. But any damage sustained by plaintiff will be diminished in proportion to the amount of the negligence attributed to the plaintiff. (JA 1133-34) (emphasis added). Furthermore the judge never told the jury that if it attributed fifty percent or more of the blame for plaintiff's injury upon that plaintiff, the judge would enter judgment for the defendant. This instruction was plainly wrong for what it said, and for what it didn't say. Although plaintiff failed to object to the instruction and omission before the court charged the jury, the plain error requires us to take cognizance of it and act. See Alexander v. Riga, 208 F.3d 419, 426-27 (3d Cir.2000). 9
45 We review for clear error the determination of the District Court that there was sufficient evidence of contributory negligence. See Scully v. U.S. WATS, 238 F.3d 497, 505 (3d Cir.2001). Srein, administrator of the Plans, was by all accounts a sophisticated investor. He received periodic reports about both his personal, and the Plans', viatical investments. Several years elapsed before he noticed that these investments had not matured. It was not unreasonable for the trier of fact, governed by a comparative negligence law and instruction, to allocate some blame to him.