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Case Law Alerts

Does a Municipality Have Statutory Duty to Indemnify Its Police Officer for Judgment Entered Against Him in Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit?

McGuire on behalf of Neidig v. City of Pittsburgh, 285 A.3d 887 (Pa. 2022)

October 1, 2024

by Jordan L. Mazzoni

In late 2012, 16-year-old Shane McGuire and friends smashed pumpkins and stacked bricks on the doorstep of the home of City of Pittsburgh Police Officer Colby Neidig. Once Neidig and his family arrived home, McGuire watched the family’s reaction to the vandalism and then banged on the front door and ran away, accidentally tripping over his own brick booby trap in the process. Neidig heard the ruckus and gave chase. Neidig caught McGuire, knocked him to the ground and punched him in the face. Neidig was not wearing his police uniform, nor did he identify himself as a police officer. Neidig called 911 and restrained McGuire until Officer David Blatt, an on-duty City of Pittsburg police officer, arrived. 

McGuire filed a federal lawsuit against Neidig, Blatt and the City of Pittsburgh, asserting excessive use of force in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and claiming Neidig was liable for McGuire’s assault and battery claims. Blatt and the City were dismissed at the summary judgment stage, and the claims against Neidig proceeded to a jury trial. 

The jury returned a verdict for McGuire for all three claims, and the court awarded him damages for said claims in the amount of $235,575. Neidig assigned McGuire his right to sue the City for indemnification under the PSTCA. 

McGuire then sued the City, seeking a declaratory judgment that the City was statutorily obligated to indemnify Neidig under Subsection 8548(a) of the PSTCA, which went to a jury trial. The jury concluded Neidig was not acting within the scope of his duties when he assaulted McGuire, meaning the City was not required to indemnify Neidig under the PSTCA.

McGuire appealed that decision to the Commonwealth Court, which affirmed. McGuire then petitioned for allowance of appeal, arguing that a federal jury’s finding that a police officer acted “under color of state law” for purposes of Section 1983 constitutes and is synonymous with a “judicial determination” that the officer acted within the “scope of his office or duties” under the PSTCA. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania analyzed that a police officer may sometimes act both “under the color of state law” and beyond the scope of his or her employment. 

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ultimately held that the Restatement (Second) of Agency section setting forth the “scope of employment” test would be adopted to determine if a public employee’s conduct falls within “scope of office or duties” under indemnity provisions of the PSTCA. Further, a determination that an officer acted “under color of state law” for purposes of § 1983 does not establish that he acted “within the scope of his office or employment” for purposes of the PSTCA. 

 

Case Law Alerts, 4th Quarter, October 2024 is prepared by Marshall Dennehey to provide information on recent developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. Copyright © 2024 Marshall Dennehey, all rights reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm.

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The two appraisers inspected the building, and both appraisers agreed that the damages were $313,271.98. The insurer paid the agreed appraised amount.  Thereafter, the insured submitted a claim for an additional $206,663.09 in damages. The insured argued that these additional damages were not discovered until after the repairs began, and that they should be permitted to submit an additional claim, even though there had already been a binding appraisal of damages. The insurer refused to pay the additional damages, and the insured sued for breach of contract and bad faith.  In the trial court, the insurer moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim, arguing that the binding appraisal award barred any further claims. The insured took the position that additional hidden damages could not be discovered until after the repairs began, and therefore there was a mutual mistake. The trial court dismissed the case on the insurer’s motion, because there was no “evidence of fraud, misfeasance, or mistake”. The Court of Appeals agreed that appraisal awards are generally binding, but noted that an appraisal award can be set aside for fraud or manifest mistake. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the case to the trial court, finding that the insured had pled mistake with sufficient particularity. The insurer appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court. On appeal, the Ohio Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, and reinstated the trial court decision dismissing the case for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. The Supreme Court found that since the insured had already demanded appraisal, and the appraisal award was binding, “something more than error of judgement, such as corruption in the arbitrator, or gross mistake” must be pled with particularity, and proven for the insured to override the appraisal award. Since the complaint did not allege fraud or manifest mistake with sufficient particularity, something more than a mere error of judgment, the complaint was insufficient to state a claim.  The complaint in this case did not challenge the appraisal award. It pled that additional damages were discovered that were not apparent when the appraisal was done. It did not specify “who discovered the damages, how they were discovered, where they were found, why they were previously hidden, or why they rise to the level of a manifest mistake that the “appraiser would have corrected...had it been called to his attention”. Id at ¶22 citing Lakewood Mfg. Co. v. Home Ins. Co. of New York, 422 F.2d 796, 798 (6th Cir. 1970). Cases deciding the effect of appraisal awards are unusual. The Ohio Supreme Court’s decision in One Church relies primarily on 19th century case law for its conclusion. 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Co. of New York, 422 F.2d 796, 798 (6th Cir. 1970).  The majority opinion does not specifically identify what would have been sufficient to plead mistake with particularity, or if the insured could have amended the complaint to overcome the deficiencies. The dissent argues that this was not really a case alleging mistake, but rather a question of contract interpretation. The insured did not challenge the appraisal, but argued that the hidden damage was not part of the appraisal, and the appraisal only covered the known damages.  However, this argument did not carry the day with the majority.  *Thomas F. Glassman, a shareholder in Marshall Dennehey’s Cincinnati office, filed a brief in the Ohio Supreme Court on behalf of the Ohio Association of Civil Trial Attorneys, in support of the insurer’s position.

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