A community college, as a local agency, is not immune under the Pennsylvania Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act for alleged statutory violations Of Consumer Protection Law statute.

Before the students completed the defendant college's police technology program, the Pennsylvania Municipal Police Officers' Education and Training Commission suspended the Academy's Act 120 certification. The Training Commission based the suspension on numerous violations. Students sued the community college arguing that it had violated Pennsylvania's Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law ("CPL"). The college argued that the CPL did not apply to community colleges and, as a local agency, a community college was immune from CPL claims under the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act ("PSTCA") 42 Pa.C.S. § 8541.

While the Commonwealth Court initially determined that such a claim was barred by the PSTCA, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed and, on remand, instructed the Commonwealth Court to consider whether the community college was a person, as defined in the CPL, and whether the community college was immune under the Political Subdivision PSTCA because the CPL claims raised against it sounded in tort. First, the Commonwealth Court determined that the General Assembly's use of the phrase "any other legal entities" in its definition of "person," under the CPL, was expansive enough to embrace local agencies. Secondly, as the students' claims under the CPL sounded in contract rather than tort, immunity under the PSTCA did not apply.

Case Law Alert - 1st Qtr 2012