Collins v. Greene County Memorial Hospital
Collins v. Greene County Memorial Hospital
Opinion of the Court
ORDER
Order affirmed.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting.
I dissent to the Majority’s per curiam affirmance of the order of the Superior Court in this matter because, in my view, this case presents us with the opportunity to settle the question of how quickly a litigant must act when he seeks to transfer his state claims to a state court which were previously part of a federal court proceeding, and which have been dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, and where the litigants wish to transfer their state claims to a state court in order to litigate these claims.
The Superior Court has concluded that Jean Collins and Terry Collins (Appellants) were not “prompt” when they waited seven months to file the certified copy of their complaint, pleadings and final judgment from the district court’s dismissal of their action, as well as their Praecipe to Transfer, in the Green County Court of Common Pleas. Consequently, the Superior Court affirmed the trial court’s order sustaining the preliminary objections of Green County Memorial Hospital and Arunava Das, M.D. (Appellees) and striking the transfer of the action from the federal district court.
However, I, do not read the Superior Court’s opinion to be imposing a presumption that the transferred action is “dead” on the thirty-first day, as we have concluded with unserved writs of summons or complaints. In fact, the Superior Court opinion does not specifically adopt a thirty day rule but only concludes that policy reasons justify that a party act “promptly” in transferring his action which has been dismissed for lack of jurisdiction by the federal courts. I would have preferred that we take the opportunity and set a rule for such situations and consider whether there are equitable circumstances which can excuse a delayed filing as well as consider whether the party seeking to dismiss a transfer request based on lateness must also demonstrate that the plaintiffs tardiness has caused him prejudice. Because all of these questions remain unanswered, I believe the per curiam disposition of this appeal does a disservice to the bar and these litigants. Hence, I dissent.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.