Court Opinion

ID: 9701013
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 21:59:02.30416+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:17.196074
License: Public Domain

DISSENTING OPINION BY
DEL SOLE, P.J.:
¶ 1 I do not agree with the Majority’s finding that the order in question is collat*1045eral pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 313. My concern is with the determination that it involves a right too important to be denied review. A matter is deemed to be too important to be denied review when the interests that might be without protection if appellate review were denied are more significant than the interest in avoiding piecemeal litigation. Jacksonian v. Temple University Health System, 862 A.2d 1275 (Pa.Super.2004). The issue must involve rights deeply rooted in public policy; it is not sufficient that the issue is important to the parties involved. Id. Here, the disclosure of tax returns does not implicate any such deeply-rooted interest; there simply is no societal interest in sheltering tax documents from adverse litigants. I see this as a situation in which the issue is significant only to the parties involved, especially the party forced to divulge financial information. I do not mean to imply that I think that the trial court acted properly in compelling the production of these records, in that they may be irrelevant to the underlying negligence action.4 Yet relevance does not determine whether the collateral doctrine applies.
¶2 In reaching this conclusion, I note that Appellant is not without remedy. She could petition the trial court for certification of the issue for appeal and file a Petition for Permission to Appeal as contemplated in Pa.R.A.P. 1311. Should the trial court refuse certification, Appellant could file a Petition for Review with this Court as provided for in Chapter 15 of our Rules of Appellate Procedure. Of course, Appellant could simply elect not to comply with the discovery order and 'suffer whatever sanction the trial court would impose and then seek review.
¶ 3 Plainly, the collateral order doctrine was created to be a safety valve for uniquely postured cases. As such, it must be interpreted narrowly so as not to extend cases that do not fit this profile; they are provided other avenues of relief.

. Because insurance companies are required to disclose liability limits, one could argue that the disclosure of financial information is relevant to aid the parties in determining how to pursue the action. We do not reach this question, however, as the relevance of the information sought is not presently before us.