Court Opinion

ID: 9764657
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 03:34:42.915579+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:59.725663
License: Public Domain

PELLEGRINI, Judge,
dissenting.
I dissent. Because the assets at risk remain the same, the majority incorrectly characterizes Appellants’ request to amend the caption from “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” to “Department of Transportation, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” as a substitution of parties rather than a correction in the name of a party.
In this case, an original defendant in a wrongful death and survival action arising out of a motor vehicle accident filed a Complaint joining the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, seeking indemnification and contribution. In the “wherefore clause” of that Complaint, the original defendant alleged that the “Department of Transportation, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is either alone liable to Plaintiffs, [or] is liable over to Defendant ...” Despite Defendant correctly naming the party in the “wherefore clause,” the majority finds the caption from “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” to “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation” is an impermissible substitution of a party.
The majority properly relies on this Court’s decision in Bainbridge v. Department of Transportation, 125 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 406, 557 A.2d 456 (1989) and Garcia *435v. Commonwealth, 131 Pa.Commonwealth Ct. 327, 570 A.2d 137 (1990). In those cases, we held that an amendment naming an agency as a party after the statute of limitations has expired was not permitted because the naming of the agency was a substitution of parties. I believe that both of those cases were decided erroneously because the moving parties in those cases were not attempting to substitute a party but were correcting the name of a party, which is permissible under Pa.R.C.P. 1033. Similarly, in this case, the original defendant was also attempting to correct the name of the liable party.
Pa.R.C.P. 1033, which governs the amendment of pleadings, provides that “a party ... may at any time ... correct the name of the party,” either by consent of the adverse party or leave of court. The amendment of pleadings for this purpose should be liberally granted to secure decisions of cases on their merits and not on technical defects. Amendments, however, should not be permitted where surprise or prejudice to the other party will result. Jacob’s Air Conditioning and Heating v. Associated Heating and Air Conditioning, 366 Pa.Superior Ct. 430, 433, 531 A.2d 494, 496 (1987).
In applying those standards, the Superior Court in Jacob’s stated:
In situations where the statute of limitations had run and a party proposes an amendment to a complaint, as in the instant case, the question to be resolved is whether the proposed amendment merely corrects a party name or adds a new party to the litigation. If an amendment constitutes a simple correcting of the name of a party, it should be allowed. Wicker v. Esposito, 500 Pa. 457, 457 A.2d 1260 (1983), but if the amendment in effect adds a new party, it should be prohibited. Cianchetti v. Kaylen, 241 Pa.Super. 437, 361 A.2d 842 (1976).
366 Pa.Superior Ct. at 433, 531 A.2d at 496.
The test for whether a proposed change is a correction of a named party, as the Superior Court reiterated in Jacob’s, is when:
*436There is no change of assets subject to liability by permitting appellant to amend its pleading. This is a common concern in cases where a party has not been permitted to change the form of the business entity. Stated otherwise, appellee could not be prejudiced, regardless of the form of the business entity if the assets subject to liability remain the same. Generally, when an appellee will not be prejudiced by the proposed change, courts are inclined to deem the change one of name only, not of party, and will permit the amendment to allow the change.
366 Pa.Superior Ct. at 433-34, 531 A.2d at 496. See Waugh v. Steelton Taxi, 371 Pa. 436, 89 A.2d 527 (1952); Fretts v. Pavetti, 282 Pa.Superior Ct. 166, 422 A.2d 881 (1980).
If the test is that if the assets subject to liability remain the same and the proposed amendment is a change of name only rather than a substitution of the party, the proposed change in this case from “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” to “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation” would be permitted as a name change.
The Department of Transportation has no assets separate and apart from the Commonwealth. In any action against the Department of Transportation, judgments are not paid from its revenues, because it has none. Rather, judgments are paid by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania revenue that it receives from tax dollars. The assets subject to liability remain the same, because for all intents and purposes, they are one and the same. The appropriation of revenue, control and direction of the Department of Transportation are exercised by the elected officials of the Commonwealth. In this action, the Department of Transportation is represented by the Commonwealth’s attorney, the Attorney General, and not by inside or outside counsel.
Where, as here, there is no prejudice to the Commonwealth or the Department of Transportation, because they had notice that the action involved was precipitated by the Department of Transportation’s negligence, the amendment should be permitted under Rule 1033.