Court Opinion

ID: 9731937
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 16:02:12.598675+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:22.066733
License: Public Domain

CAVANAUGH, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. In my opinion the court below properly dismissed the complaint for failure to join an indispensable party. The underlying contract was between PennDOT and Mergentime as the prime contractor on the Schuylkill Expressway project. The Insurance Company of North America issued a performance bond as Mergentime’s security.
Mergentime subcontracted to Grimme the portion of its contract requiring pressure mortar surfacing of certain areas of the project. The subcontract contained a clause (Section 6(A)) providing that Grimme could recover damages for delays or interferences only if Mergentime’s contract with PennDOT entitled Mergentime to compensation there*637for, and then only to the extent of the amount PennDOT had to pay:
Section 6. Delays (A). In the event the subcontractor’s performance of this Subcontract is delayed or interfered with by acts of the Owner, Contractor or other Subcontractors, he may [r]equest an extension of time for the performance of same ... but shall not be entitled to any increase in Subcontract price or to damages or additional compensation as to the consequence of such delays and interference except to the extent that the prime contract entitles the Prime Contractor to compensation for such delays and then only to the extent that the Contractor may, on behalf of the Subcontractor, recover from the Owner for such delays. (Emphasis added.)
Accordingly, PennDOT was inextricably involved in any dispute between Grimme Combustion, Inc. and Mergentime Corp. for delays, “and extra work assigned to Grimme as a result of requests by PennDOT for a significant number of unexpected repairs.” (Majority, page 625).1 In my opinion, PennDOT is an indispensable party as determined by the court below and I would affirm the order of the court.2

. The majority stresses the fact that "in the instant litigation ... neither the Commonwealth nor any of its subdivisions, agencies, or instrumentalities has been made a party defendant by the plaintiff.” (Pages 84-85) This is correct, and the reason that the complaint was dismissed by the court below is that PennDOT was not a party, but should have been.
In the action in the Court of Common Pleas, the plaintiff did not name PennDOT as a party defendant because jurisdiction would then lie in the Board of Claims.

. The appellee is not left without a forum. If PennDOT is joined, jurisdiction would lie with the Board of Claims which has exclusive jurisdiction over claims involving the Commonwealth arising from contracts entered into with the Commonwealth. 72 Pa.S. § 4651-4.