Opinion ID: 1372425
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Tortious Interference with Contractual Relationships

Text: We already have discussed Pennsylvania's requirements for a tortious interference with contractual relationships claim when considering appellant's appeal from the judgment in favor of appellees on their similar claim, and thus we do not repeat them here. We find that the District Court did not err in granting appellees a judgment as a matter of law on this portion of counterclaim IV, inasmuch as appellant did not present any evidence of conduct that could have led a reasonable jury to conclude that appellees interfered with appellant's contracts. Appellant based its tortious interference counterclaim on the same incidents that it alleges constituted defamation: the Nazareth Hospital incident and Acumed's letters to its customers. To the extent that appellant claims that Acumed's letters constituted tortious interference, these claims are meritless as a matter of law. As we discussed above, the letters do not even mention appellant, and Acumed certainly had a right, if not an obligation, to notify the purchasers of its products of its warranty policies. Further, there was no evidence at the trial that Casey or anyone else representing appellees made false statements or misrepresentations to third parties during the Nazareth hospital incident. Finally, appellant challenges the exclusion of the testimony of Jeanne Mikalauskas, one of its sales representatives, arguing that her testimony would have supported appellant's version of the Nazareth incident. The District Court, however, properly excluded Mikalauskas' testimony, as she was not present during the incident and attempted to testify to out-of-court statements of Dr. Frederick precluded by the hearsay rule. See Fed.R.Evid. 802.