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Home My WebLink About04-5890IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA RITE AID CORPORATION Plaintiff, V. GULF INSURANCE COMPANY Defendant. NO. PRAECIPE FOR ISSUANCE OF WRIT OF SUMMONS To the Prothonotary: Kindly issue a writ of summons in the above-captioned case. Respectfully submitted, HANGLEY ARONCHICK SEGAL & PUDLIN 30 North Third Street, Suite 700 Harrisburg, PA 17101 (717) 364-1004 (717) 364-1020 - facsimile Attorneys for Plaintiff Rite Aid Corporation Dated: November 23, 2004 IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA RITE AID CORPORATION : Plaintiff, : V. : GULF INSURANCE COMPANY : NO. Defendant. : WRIT OF SUMMONS To: Gulf Insurance Company: You are hereby notified that Rite Aid Corporation has commenced an action against you. Curtis R. Long, Prothonotary BLANK ROME LLP BY: Arthur W. Hankin, Esquire Attorney I.D. No. 03964 By: Elaine D. Solomon, Esquire Attorney I.D. 56219 One Logan Square Philadelphia, PA 19103-6998 (215) 569-5500 RITE AID CORPORATION Plaintiff VS. GULF INSURANCE COMPANY Defendant Attorneys for Defendant Gulf Insurance Company CUMBERLAND COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS CIVIL NO. 04-5890 NOTICE OF REMOVAL TO FEDERAL COURT TO THE PROTHONOTARY: KINDLY TAKE NOTICE that Defendant Gulf Insurance Company has removed this case to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. A true and correct copy of Defendant's Notice of Removal is attached hereto as Exhibit 1. BLANK ROME LLP' Elaine D. Solomon, Esquire Attorneys for Defendant Gulf Insurance Company 122074.00601/21339393vl s44 3/99) CML COVER SI ,I ,T The JS~ ci~l ~ver ~et ~d ~e ~o~fion ~n~ he~ nei~ ~pl~ nor ~pplem~t the fling ~d ~ce ofpl~ or o~ p~ ~ ~ by law, ~pt ~ pro~d~ by 1~ ~es of co~. ~ fo~ ~ov~ ~ &e ~ci~ ~nf~n~ of ~e U~ St at~ ~ S~tem~r 1974, is ~ for ~e ~e of&e Clerk of Co~ for &e p~ose of ~iga~g &e ci~l docket sheet (SEE SEPA~ [~S~ON S~BT) I. (a) PLAINTIFFS Rite Aid Corporation DEFENDANTS Gulf Insurance Co. County of Residence of First Listed Plaintiff Cumberland (EXCEPT IN U.S. PLAINTIFF CASES) County of Residence of First Listed Defendant New York City (IN U.S. PLAINTIFF CASES ONLY) NOTE: · LAND CONDEMNATION CASES,USE THE LOCATION OF THE (C) Attorneys (Firm Name, Address, and Telephone Number) Gordon A. Einhom, Esquire Hangley Aronchiek Segal & Pudlin, P.C. 30 North Third Street, Suite 700 Harrisburg, PA 17101-1701 717-364-1004 LAND INVOLVED. Attorneys (If Known) Elaine D. Solomon, Esquire Blank Rome LLP One Logan Square Philadelphia, PA 19103 215-56'9-5448 IL BASISOF JURISDICTION I-I I U.S. Government 121 3 Federal Questi~ Plaintiff (U.S. Government Not a Party) ~ 2 U.S. Government ~t~ 4 Diversity Defendant (Indicate Citizenship of Parties in Item Ill) IlL CITIZENSHIP GF PRINCIPAL PARTIES (For Diversity Cases Only) Citizen of This Slate I~ I Citizen of AnotherState [] 2 (PLace ~va "X" in O ne Box for Plaintiff and O ne Box for Defen DEF ~TF DEF [] 1 In¢orporatodorPdncipalPlace ~ff~ 4 [] 4 of Business In This Stag vi 2 IncorporatedandPrincipal El 5 ~5 of Business In Another State Citizen or Subject of a [] 3 F1 3 Foreign Nation [] 6 [] 6 Fomi _tm Counh-v IV. NATURE O F SUIT (Refer to Instruction ~heet) Please insert Nature of Suit Code 1 10 Please insert i~scription insurance coverage case re~ardinff emoloyee wron~dokt~ losses v. ORIGIN (PLACE AN "X" IN ONE BOX ONLY) Appeal to Dimict [] I Original FI 2 Removed from FI 3 Remanded from Fl 4 Reinstated [] 5 Trm~fcrred fi.om [] 6 Multidistriet [] 7 Judge from Proceeding State Court Appellate Court or another district Litigation Magistrate Reopened (s[~cify) Judgment VI. CAUSE OF ACTION (Cite the U.S. Civi Statut~ underwhieh you ara filhg and write brlefstatement of cause. Do not ¢ite jurisdictional n ~atutes unless diversity.) Diversity jurisdiction and removal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332 and 1441. Lawsuit seeking insurance coverage for losses sustained due to employee misconduct. VII. REQ UESTE D IN [] CHECK IF THIS IS A CLASS ACTION DEMAND S CHECK YES only ifdemanded in complaint COMPLAINT: UNDER F.R.C.P. 23 JURY DEMAND: C1 Yes [~ No Vlll. RELATED CASE(S) IF ANY (See instructions): ~UDGE DOCKET NVOMBER DATE 12/20/04 SIGNATUREOF ATTORNEY OFRECORD Arthur W. Hankin, Esquire FOR OFFICE USE ONLY RECEIPT # AMOUNT APPLYING IFP JUDGE MAG. JUDGE (Rev. 3/6/03 USDC-PAMD) FILED HARRISBURG, PA Beputy Olerk ~ UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA RITE AID CORPORATION V. GULF INSURANCE COMPANY NOTICE OF REMOVAL Defendant Gulf Insurance Company, by and through its attorneys Blank Rome LLP, hereby files its Notice of Removal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sections 1332 and 144 l, et ..seq., and in support thereof, avers as follows: 1. Plaintiff Rite Aid Corporation has commenced a lawsuit by Writ of Summons seeking damages for personal injuries in the Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas as Civil No. 04-5890. A tree and co~rrect copy of said Writ of Summons is attached as Exhibit A. CIVIL ACTION NO. 1 :CV o4-2' 41 1 122074.006~1/21339393Vl 2. Defendant Gulf Insurance Company is a corporation duly organized and existing pursuant to the laws of the State of Com~ecticut and maintaining its principal place of business in New York, New York. 3. Plaintiff Rite Aid Corporation is a corporation duly organized and existing pursuant to the laws of the State of Delawaa:e and maintaining its Principal place of business in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. 4. Based upon the allegations of citizenship set forth above, there is complete diversity of citizenship between the Plaintiff and the Defendant. 5. The information provided by Plaintiff to Defendant to date in this matter establishes that the "amount in controversy" at issue in this action is alleged to be in excess of the $75,000.00 limit required for diversity jurisdiction. 6. In a telephone conversation on December 8, 2004, defense counsel asked Plaintiff's counsel Gordon Einhorn, Esquire if Plaintiff would be willing to enter into a stipulation that Plaintiff would limit damages to $75,000.00 or less. Plaintiff's counsel advised that Plaintiff would not be 'willing to so stipulate. This request to so stipulate was confirmed in a letter dated December 8, 2004 (copy attached as Exhibit B). In response, Plaintiff's counsel advised defense counsel in a telephone conversation on 12/16/04 that that Plaintiff would not stipulate to limit damages to an amount not in excess of $75,000.00. 122074.00601/21339393vl 2 7. Accordingly, removal is appropriate and the requisite amount in controversy exists for removal based upon diversity jurisdiction. See Johnson v. Costco Wholesale, No. CIV. A. 99-CV-3576, 1999 VeL 740690 (E.D.Pa. Sept. 22, 1999)(failure to stipulate to $75,000 limit on damages provides basis for amount in controversy). Removal is appropriate at this time because the Writ of Summons and information from plaintiff put defendant on notice that all of the elements of federal diversity jurisdiction were present. See Foster v. Mutual Fire, Marine & Inland Ins. Co., 986 F.2d 48, 51 (3d Cir. 1993). 8. Defendant was served with the Writ of Summon by certified express mail, on November 24, 2004, with the mail receipt signed for on November 29, 2004, which are dates less than 30 days prior to the filing of the instant Notice of Removal. 9. Defendant seeks the removal of this case from the Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sections 1332 and 1441, et seq., inasmuch as there is complete diversity of citizenship between the parties; the requisite amount in controversy exists and this Notice has been filed within 30 days of the service of this action upon Defendant. 3 122074.00601/21339393vl BLANK ROME LLP Dated: 12/17/04 By: Arthur W. Hankin, Esquire I.D. No. 03964 hankin@blankrome.com Elaine D. Solomon, Esquire I.D. No. 56219 solomon~blarflcrome.com One Logan Square Philadelphia, PA 19103 Telephone: (215) 569-5448 Facsimile: (215) 832-5448 Attomeys for Defendant Gulf Insurance Company 4 122074.00601/21339393vl CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE Elaine D. Solomon hereby certifies that a true and correct copy of the foregoing Notice of Removal was mailed this 17th day of December 2004, by U.S. First-Class mail, postage_prepaid, to counsel of record as noted below: Gordon A. Einhom, Esquire Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin, P.C. 30 North Third Street, Suite 700 Harrisburg, PA 17101-1701 Elaine D Solomon 122074.00601/21339393vl '~-01-2004 05:24pm From-~ULF INSURANCE :~! FRiX~..RU'rH~R, FORD CHRISTI; LLP 212'201-3018 ~ ~ COT~J~T OY COMMOW/q,]L~ OF Derendiu~, NO. To: .~aln,ST. BLANK ROM E u J, COUNSELORS AT LAW Emai~' (215) $69-$44S (215) solomon~blanl~rome. December 8, 2004 VIA FACSIMILE Gordon A. Einhom, Esquire Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin, P.C. 30 North Third Street, Suite 700 Harrisburg, PA 17101-1701 Re: Rite Aid Corporation v. Gulf Insurance Company Cumberland County CCP - Civil No,, 04-5890 Dear Mr. Einhom: This letter will confirm our conversation this date regarding the above-referenced matter. This fima will be representing Gulf Insurance Company in this case. I am in receipt of a copy of a Writ of Summons, which you indicated had been served on Gulf Insurance via certified ma/l, return receipt, ma/led 11/24/04. Please let me know what date the return receipt was signed for on behalf of Gulf Insurance. As we also discussed, it is my intention to remove this case to federal court based upon diversity jurisdiction unless your client is willing to sign a stipulation agreeing to limit damages to less than $75,000. If your client stipulates in writing that the maximum damages recoverable in this matter is $75,000 or less, federal court jurisdiction will ]be precluded. Please consider this letter as notice that Gulf Insurance Company will assume that flae plaintiff is seeking in excess of $75,000 unless and until such a stipulation is signed and returned to me. In the event that Rite Aid refuses, or if I do not hear fxom you or do not receive the signed stipulation, we will proceed with removal no later than December 22, 2004. Enclosed is a Stipulation for your consideration and/or signature. I look forward to hearing from you in this regard. 900200.00001/21339332v 1 Delaware One Logan Square 18th & Cherry Streets Philadelphia, PA 19103-6998 www. BlankRome.com Florida · Maryland · New Jersey · New York · Ohio · Pennsylvania · Washington, DC Gordon Einhorn, Esquire December 8, 2004 Page 2 BLAN K ROME~ COUNSELOI~S AT LAW EDS/mmp Attachment ELAINE D. SOLOMON 900200.00001/21339332vl BLANK ROME llJp BY: _Arthur W. H~midn, Esquire Attorney I.D. No. 03964 By: Elaine D. Solomon, Esquire Attorney I.D. 56219 One Logan Square Philadelphia, PA 19103-6998 (215) 569-5500 Attorneys for Defendant Gulf Insurance Company RITE AID CORPORATION Plaintiff vS. GULF INSURANCE COMPANY Defendant CUMBEBJ_~ND COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS CIVIL NO. 04-5890 STIPUI~TION LIMITING DgaMakGES It is hereby stipulated by and between counsel for Phdntiff Rite Aid Corporation and counsel for the Defendant Gulf Insurance Company that the damages sought in this matter do not exceed $75,000 exclusive of interest and costs. It is understood by both parties that the Defendant is relying upon the enforceability of this Stipulation in voluntarily allowing the expiration of the period during which this case could have been removed to the United States District Court~ Hangley .Al:onchick, Segal & Pudlin, P.C. BLANK ROME LLP Gordon A. F, inhom, Esquire Attorney I.D. No. 60180 Attorney for Plaintiff By:. Elaine D. Solomon, Esquire Attorney I.D. No. 56219 Attorneys for Defendant Dated: 12(08/2004 12:47 FAX ~001 *** TX REPORT *** TRANSMISSION OK TX/RXNO CONNECTION TEL CONNECTION ID ST. TIME, USAGE T PGS. SENT RESULT 2716 00200,00001#17173641020# 12/08 12:46 00'$3 4 OK BLANK ROME~ FAX TRANSMrrrAL FORM D~to: Dcoomber 8, 2004 TO: FIRM: FAX NO.: CONi-iidJAT~ON NO,: 1. ~l Al ~~ ~ H~ Axa~ch~ok S,gal & 71%364-1020 717-364-1030 From: Elaine D. Solomon .Phone: (215) 569-5448 _ . -' Fax: (215) 832-5448 Email: ., solomoa~blankrom?-o;~n Arty No.: ,1804 ORIGINAL: ' WHEN ~OMPLETED: Will ii°Il°w:' I C~'llF°r PickuP: Will Not Follow: x 8end Interoffice: J~ Of Pagesi (irlclude cover) J Client/Matter #: J 9oo~0.00001J COVER MES~A;3E; COIJFIDENTIALITY MOTE: The documents Jaaampan¥1ng this fax tmnsmisslol~ contain informaUon, whiah may be confider~ial and/or legally privileged, from the law firm of Blank Rome ELP. ? he Information is intended only for the use of the I ndMdl~al or entity named on thL~ transmission sheet If you am not the Interlded recijgehJ, you are hereby nolffied Ihat any disclosure, ~opylng, distribution or the !aklng of any at, lion In mlianc, e on the contenls 0f lhls ~xed informaifon iS SVlclJy prohibited, and tha~ ~ 00ct~rnanta should be returned to thi~ llrm Immediately, If yOu have received this In error, please nolify u~ by telephone ~---.~.l,..~ ~k~. ,*,,,~h.~. Ii.lJ~ ,.h,~,a ..,,41aH e~ Ihaf ~ m~lu mrmnem ~'w fh~ rellim of th~. ariolnal documenl~ to us at. nO co,~t ID YOU, The BLANK ROMF ~, COUNSELORS Ar tAW FAX TRANSMITTAL FORM Date: December 8, 2004 TO: FIRM: FAX NO.: CONFIRMATION NO.: l. Gordon A. Einhom, Esquire Hangley Aronchick Segal & 717-364-1020 717-364-1030 ' Pudlin, P.C. From: Elaine D. 'Solomon Phone: (215) 569-5448 Fax: (2,1,5) 832-5448 Email: solomon~blankrome.com Atty No.: 1804. l#of Pages: (include cover) 14 I IClient/Matter #: J90020 00001 I ORIGINAL: WHEN COMPLETED: Will F°ll°w: J Call F°r Pickup:I Will Not Follow: x Send Interoffice: . COVER MESSAGE: CONFIDENTIALITY NOTE: The documents accompanying this fax transmission contain information, which may be confidential and/or legally privileged, from the law firm of Blank Rome UP. T he Information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named on this transmission sheeL If you are not the Intended mdplent, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or the taking of any action in reliance on the contents of this faxed Information is striclJy prohibited, and that the documents should be returned to this finn Immediately. If you have received this in error, please notify us by telephone Immediately at the number listed above, collect, so that we may arrange for the tatum of lhe odginal documents to us at no cost to you. The unauthorized disclosure, use, or publication of confidential or privileged Information inadvertenlly lransmitted to you may result In criminal and/or civil TRANSMITTED BY: DATE SENT: TIME SE,NT: TIME CALLED: BUSY: NO ANSWER: WRONG NUMBER: NO CONNECTION: One Logan Square 18th & Cherry Streets Philadelphia, PA 19103 215.569.5500 Fax: 215.569.5555 www, BlankRome.com 900200.00001/21339406vl CERTIFICATE OF SERNqCE Elaine D. Solomon hereby certifies that a true and correct copy of the foregoing Notice of Removal to Federal Court was mailed this 6th day of January 2005, by U.S. First-Class mail, postage prepaid, to counsel of record as noted below: Gordon A. Einhom, Esquire Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin, P.C. 30 North Third Street, Suite 700 Harrisburg, PA 17101-1701 Elaine D. Solomon 122074.00601/21339393vl CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE Elaine D. Solomon hereby certifies that a true and correct copy of the foregoing Notice of Removal to Federal Court was mailed this 6th day of January 2005, by U.S. First-Class mail, postage prepaid, to counsel of record as noted below: Gordon A. Einhom, Esquire Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin, P.C. 30 North Third Street, Suite 700 Harrisburg, PA 17101-1701 Elaine D. Solomon 122( 174.00601 / 21339393vl