.
Casualty

Defense Digest

Commonwealth Court Affirms Trial Court’s Decision to Determine Jerk and Jolt Burden as a Matter of Law

Defense Digest, Vol. 29, No. 1, March 2023

March 1, 2023

Key Points:

  • The “jerk and jolt doctrine” is a long-standing tenet of Pennsylvania law that protects common carriers from liability involving the normal “jerks” and “jolts” that are expected in the operation of a vehicle.
  • The doctrine requires a plaintiff to establish that the “jerk” or “jolt” or stop of a vehicle was so unusual and extraordinary as to be beyond a passenger’s reasonable anticipation.
  • A trial court may permissibly determine whether a vehicle’s movement satisfies the threshold requirements of the “jerk and jolt doctrine” as a matter of law.  

The “jerk and jolt doctrine” is a long-standing tenet of Pennsylvania law that protects common carriers from liability involving normal “jerks” and “jolts” that would be expected in the operation of a vehicle. The doctrine requires a plaintiff to establish that the jerk or stop of a vehicle was so unusual and extraordinary as to be beyond a passenger’s reasonable anticipation. The validity of the doctrine and, more importantly, the standard through which it is applied was discussed in a recent Commonwealth Court decision.

In Grant v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transport Authority, 2023 WL 352957 (Pa. Cmwlth. Jan. 23, 2023), the Commonwealth Court affirmed a trial court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of a transit authority. The court effectively rejected the plaintiff’s argument that the trial court had improperly substituted its judgment for that of the jury.

In Grant, video evidence demonstrated that shortly after the plaintiff had boarded a trolley, the trolley accelerated forward, causing the plaintiff to fall to the floor and allegedly suffer injury. No other passengers fell or claimed injuries as a result of the trolley’s movement. The plaintiff filed suit against the transit authority, SEPTA, claiming that the sudden movement of the trolley constituted negligence.

To succeed in her claim, the plaintiff needed to satisfy the threshold requirements of the jerk and jolt doctrine. That doctrine requires that a plaintiff establish that the movement (aka the jerk and/or jolt) of the vehicle was “so unusual and extraordinary” that it was beyond reasonable anticipation. The trial court concluded that the plaintiff could not meet these requirements and granted summary judgment in favor of SEPTA.

The plaintiff appealed, contending that the trial court erred because the question of whether the trolley’s movement was “unusual and extraordinary” was a question of fact for the jury. The Commonwealth Court disagreed. It reasoned that, when a video recording demonstrates that neither the character nor the nature of a plaintiff’s fall could leave a factfinder with any basis to reasonably infer that the trolley’s movement was so “violent and extraordinary” as to meet the threshold to establish negligence under the jerk and jolt doctrine, a trial court may rightfully decide the issue as a matter of law.

While the court’s opinion is unpublished and non-precedential, Grant is significant in that it reaffirms the fact that trial courts may review video surveillance of an alleged jerk or jolt and decide the issue as a matter of law.  

Firm Highlights

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In Haskins v. Casey, et al., the plaintiff Dane Haskins worked for defendant Ekornes, Inc. (Ekornes) as a material handler. In June 2021, he filed a workers’ compensation claim petition for benefits due to a left shoulder injury in December 2020. He then resolved his workers’ compensation claim in November 2022 under an Order Approving Settlement. In January 2023, he filed a lawsuit against Ekornes and later amended to add additional claims and name other defendants, including the Ekornes president, chief financial officer, and director of human resources. In May 2025, a second amended complaint alleged that after he filed the workers compensation claim, Ekornes placed him on leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), denied his request for a work accommodation, and ultimately terminated him from employment in December 2021. He pleaded several causes of action asserting violations of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) as well as fraudulent concealment and wrongful discharge. The plaintiff then moved for partial summary judgment, seeking an order enforcing Section 40 of the Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA) as well as summary judgment on his FMLA claims. The defendants opposed the motions and cross-moved for summary judgment on the FMLA claims. After arguments, the court entered an order in December 2025, denying the FMLA motion and cross motion and granting the plaintiff’s Section 40 motion. In the order, the court permitted the plaintiff to pursue compensatory damages at trial in connection with the bodily injury claim. The court also allowed the plaintiff to present evidence of any workers’ compensation benefits to support his claim. The court then denied the defendant's subsequent reconsideration motion in February 2026. The defendants that appealed the Section 40 aspect of the orders. In reviewing the appeal de novo, the Appellate Division rejected the plaintiff's argument that the work-related injury arose out of his discrimination claims under the LAD. The plaintiff argued that he should be able to pursue a personal injury claim as a part of his LAD claim, noting that the employer’s compensation carrier would be able to assert a lien against any recovery against his LAD claims. In distinguishing between the Richter vs. Oakland Board of Education, 246 N.J. 507 (2021) case, in which the Court found that any recovery would be subject to a Section 40 lien as the allegation was that the defendants failed to accommodate her pre-existing diabetic condition, which resulted in bodily injury. In this case, the Appellate Division indicated that there was no bodily injury caused by Ekornes’ failure to accommodate a pre-existing disability. Rather, the shoulder injury was a result of a workers compensation claim, for which he received appropriate benefits previously. The Appellate Division noted that if the plaintiff was successful in proving his LAD claims, he would be entitled to damages caused by the discriminatory discriminatory conduct such as lost wages and emotional distress damages and that there will be no Section 40 lien. In addition, the Appellate Division disagreed that the petitioner could present evidence about and seek damages for his shoulder injury at trial. Although the petitioner argued that a defendant who retaliated against an employee for filing a workers’ compensation claim should not benefit from the exclusivity provision of the WCA, the Appellate Division noted that the Legislature did not include this type of scenario in the statue nor did any of the case law recognize this type of claim as a remedy. As such, the Appellate Division reversed the December 2025 order granting the the plaintiff’s Section 40 summary judgment motion as well as the February 2026 reconsideration motion order. The Appellate Division noted that they did not intend to limit the plaintiff in his pursuit of his other claims on under the LAD, FMLA, and workers’ compensation retaliation causes of action.

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