Sherry WERTZ, Appellant, v. CHAPMAN TOWNSHIP; Chapman Township Supervisors; Robert Walizer; Dean Scott; and Robert Young, Appellees.
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Argued April 26, 1999. Decided Dec. 21, 1999.
741 A.2d 1272
Anthony R. Sherr, Blue Bell, for Chapman, et al.
Before FLAHERTY, C.J., and ZAPPALA, CAPPY, CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN and SAYLOR, JJ.
OPINION
We granted allocatur to address an issue to which this court has not spoken. Specifically, we shall consider whether a plaintiff seeking monetary damages under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (“PHRA“) 1 is entitled to a trial by jury. For the reasons stated more fully below, we find that a plaintiff is not entitled to a jury trial for claims arising under the PHRA. Thus, we affirm the order of the Commonwealth Court.
The facts of this matter are as follows. In December of 1989, Sherry Wertz (Appellant) was hired as a road crew laborer for Chapman Township (together with the Chapman Township Supervisors, Robert Walizer, Dean Scott, and Robert Young, Appellees) to replace her mother, Patricia Stevenson, who was on medical leave. On April 9, 1990, Appellant informed her road crew foreman, Fred Gummo, that she was no longer able to lift objects weighing more than 25 pounds because she was pregnant. According to Appellant, her foreman ignored this request and began to harass her continuously. Specifically, Gummo ordered Appellant to lift heavy items, made sexually degrading remarks to her, threatened to terminate her employment, isolated her from the rest of the work crew, denied her breaks, and made unwarranted complaints about her work.
Appellant complained to the Chapman Township Supervisors about her foreman‘s conduct. The Supervisors agreed that Gummo‘s conduct was inappropriate and ordered the foreman to correct his behavior. Appellant alleges that subsequent to this admonition, the harassment by her foreman increased. On May 11, 1990, Appellant was terminated from her position.
On June 5, 1992, Appellant filed an action in federal court alleging violations of federal and state employment discrimination law. On June 30, 1994, Appellant‘s federal claims were dismissed as time-barred. As a result of the dismissal of her
On March 13, 1995, Appellant filed a motion for trial by jury. The trial court denied the motion on April 12, 1995. On September 25, 1996, after a one-day trial, the trial judge found in favor of Appellees. On October 29, 1996, the trial court denied Appellant‘s post-trial motions and entered a judgment in favor of Appellees.
The Commonwealth Court vacated the trial court‘s judgment and ordered a new trial based upon its finding that the trial court erred in excluding the testimony of a witness concerning the foreman‘s alleged past discriminatory remarks concerning women. In a two to one decision, the court also affirmed the trial court‘s denial of a jury trial on Appellant‘s claims under the PHRA. Appellant filed a petition for allowance of appeal.
We granted allocatur to determine whether Appellant is entitled to a trial by jury.
Appellant argues that under both the PHRA and the Pennsylvania Constitution, she is entitled to a jury trial. It is axiomatic that if an issue can be resolved on a non-constitutional basis, that is the more jurisprudentially sound path to follow. Thus, we shall first consider whether Appellant is entitled to a jury trial under the PHRA. As with all issues of statutory construction, this court‘s analysis begins with the words of the statute. Hoy v. Angelone, 554 Pa. 134, 720 A.2d 745, 748 (1998). The PHRA provides in relevant part, that:
If the court finds the respondent has engaged in such discriminatory practices charged in the complaint, the court shall enjoin the respondent from engaging in such unlawful discriminatory practice and order affirmative action which may include, but is not limited to, reinstatement or hiring of employes, granting of back pay, or any other legal or equitable relief as the court deems appropriate....
Recently in Hoy, this court reviewed the same provision of the PHRA in determining whether a plaintiff is entitled to punitive damages under the PHRA. In finding that a plaintiff is not entitled to punitive damages under the PHRA, our court considered the absence of language expressly providing for the right, the ability of the General Assembly to provide for such a right, other statutory language, as well as other indicia of the legislature‘s intent. We shall conduct a similar analysis in this appeal.
First, the statute itself is silent as to the right to trial by jury. As in Hoy, we again note that the legislature is cognizant of its ability to expressly provide for certain legal rights. The General Assembly is well aware of its ability to grant a jury trial in its legislative pronouncements, as it has done so in other contexts.
Additionally, the General Assembly‘s use of the term “court” in the statute is significant. The statute states that “If the court finds that the respondent has engaged in or is engaging in an unlawful discriminatory practice charged in the complaint, the court shall enjoin the respondent from engaging in such unlawful discriminatory practice and order affirmative action which may include, but is not limited to, reinstatement or hiring of employees, granting back pay, or any other legal or equitable relief as the court deems appropriate.”
Finally, the legislative history of the PHRA fails to provide the court with any indication that the General Assembly intended for a plaintiff to have a right to trial by jury. Murphy v. Cartex, 377 Pa.Super. 181, 546 A.2d 1217, 1223 (1988) (“There is nothing in the specific language of
Appellant argues that because the language of the PHRA provides for “legal” relief, and because such relief rests traditionally in courts of law, as opposed to courts of equity, she is entitled to a jury trial, since plaintiffs in cases involving monetary damages, i.e., legal relief, are entitled to a trial by jury. Thus, according to Appellant, the PHRA implicitly entitles Appellant to a jury trial.
Simply because the PHRA allows for legal relief does not necessarily translate into a legislative intent to provide for a jury trial. While the provision of legal relief may in some instances suggest a trial by jury, it is not dispositive. As noted by the Commonwealth Court in its opinion below, an award of legal relief “incidental to or intertwined with injunctive relief may be equitable.” Chauffeurs, Teamsters and Helpers Local No. 391 v. Terry, 494 U.S. 558, 571, 110 S.Ct. 1339, 108 L.Ed.2d 519 (1990) quoting Tull v. United States, 481 U.S. 412, 424, 107 S.Ct. 1831, 95 L.Ed.2d 365 (1987); accord Curtis v. Loether, 415 U.S. 189, 196, 94 S.Ct. 1005, 39 L.Ed.2d 260 (1974). Indeed, that a court of equity had the power to provide for damages incident to its equitable decree
Based upon the legislature‘s silence on the issue of the availability of a jury trial, together with the affirmative use of the term “court,” and the lack of any legislative history to the contrary, we conclude that the General Assembly did not intend for a plaintiff to have a right to trial by jury for claims under the PHRA. Of course, we recognize the difficulty in ascertaining the General Assembly‘s intent where the statute provides no express answer. However, we are secure in the knowledge that if we are mistaken as to the legislature‘s intent, the General Assembly may simply amend the PHRA to realize any heretofore unstated legal right that it contemplated.
However, our determination that the PHRA does not provide for a trial by jury does not end our inquiry. We must also consider Appellant‘s argument that she is entitled to a jury trial under the Pennsylvania Constitution.3
Trial by jury shall be as heretofore and the right thereof remain inviolate.
The article and section preserving the right of a trial by jury has appeared in each version of Pennsylvania‘s Constitu-
In Byers and Davis v. Commonwealth, 42 Pa. 89 (1862), the defendants challenged a statute criminalizing the conduct of professional thieves as being violative of the right to jury trial under the constitution. Our court noted that the constitutional provision regarding trial by jury
looked to preservation, not extension. It is the old right, whatever it was, the one previously enjoyed, that must remain inviolate, alike in its mode of enjoyment and extent. What, then, was this right thus cherished and perpetuated? We inquire not now after the mode in which such a trial was conducted. Our business at present is to ascertain how far the right to a trial by jury extended—to what controversies it was applicable. It was a right the title to which is founded upon usage, and its measure is therefore to be sought in the usages which prevailed at the time when it was asserted.
Byers, 42 Pa. at 94. The court concluded that statutes prior to the time of our Constitution regarding individuals at public places for unlawful purposes were liable for summary conviction without a jury trial. Thus, the statutory provision before the court was not unconstitutional.
Particularly relevant to the case at hand, almost one hundred years later in Appeal of Watson, 377 Pa. 495, 105 A.2d 576 (1954), this court addressed the appellant‘s argument that she was entitled to a jury trial on her suspension from teaching for mental derangement. The appellant in Watson argued that the right to a trial by jury on the issue of her mental derangement existed in Pennsylvania prior to the adoption of the Constitution of 1874. The court found that the fallacy in the argument was that “no statute, enacted prior to the Constitution of 1874, entitled a teacher, when discharged for mental derangement, to a trial of the issue by a jury.” Watson, 105 A.2d at 577-78.
From this case law emerges the legal tenet that jury trials are constitutionally required only in those cases where a jury trial for the claim would have been available when the Pennsylvania Constitution was adopted. See Robert E. Woodside, Pennsylvania Constitutional Law, 143 (1985); Thomas Raeburn White, Commentaries on the Constitution of Pennsylvania, 67 (1907).
Perhaps the most detailed statement of the analysis to be used when determining whether a jury trial is constitutionally mandated is found in Commonwealth v. One (1) 1984 Z-28 Camaro Coupe, 530 Pa. 523, 610 A.2d 36 (1992). In this case, then Justice Flaherty, now Chief Justice Flaherty, writing for the majority, held that an individual was entitled to a jury trial on the issue of the forfeiture of his 1984 Camaro pursuant to the Controlled Substances Forfeiture Act.
First, the court looked to see if there was a statutory requirement for a jury trial in the case. Second, the court inquired into whether jury trials were required in forfeiture proceedings in 1790. Finally, if jury trials were required, the court asked whether there was a common law basis for the proceeding. Camaro Coupe, 610 A.2d at 39.
Applying this analysis, the court first determined that there was no statutory basis for a right to jury trial. As to the
Our court determined that in England, forfeiture actions in the common law courts, i.e., the Courts of Exchequer, were tried before a jury, and in the United States, forfeiture actions were heard before juries in cases where Courts of Exchequer would have had jurisdiction. Thus, the court concluded that the forfeiture action had a common law basis, for it was the type of case which would have been within the jurisdiction of the Court of Exchequer, and later, American common law courts. That being the case, the defendants were entitled to a jury trial pursuant to
In light of the above, we come to the following conclusions. In the absence of a statutory basis for a trial by jury, the next inquiry for a reviewing court is whether there existed the particular cause of action at the time of the adoption of the constitution, and if so, whether there existed a concomitant right to jury trial. Only then does the court consider the third inquiry of whether there is a common law basis for the proceeding.
Applying this analysis to the case before us, we find that Appellant is not entitled to a trial by jury under our Constitution. First as to the statutory issue, as discussed above, the legislature did not provide for a trial by jury. Second, we find that jury trials were not required for discrimination actions in 1790 because a cause of action for sexual
Appellant also submits that federal decisional law leads to the conclusion that she is entitled to a trial by jury. According to Appellant, the federal district courts in Pennsylvania have predicted that our court would find that there exists a right to a jury trial under the PHRA. See e.g., Lubin v. American Packaging Corp., 760 F.Supp. 450 (E.D.Pa.1991); Galeone v. American Packaging Corp., 764 F.Supp. 349 (E.D.Pa.1991). However, as conceded by Appellant, these cases have largely relied upon federal jurisprudence interpreting the availability of a jury trial under the
Specifically, the federal district courts have found of great import the United States Supreme Court‘s decision in Lorillard v. Pons, 434 U.S. 575, 98 S.Ct. 866, 55 L.Ed.2d 40 (1978) where the Court found that there is a right to a trial by jury under the Age Discrimination and Employment Act,
In Lorillard, the Court found a right to a jury trial under the ADEA on two grounds. First, the Court noted that the ADEA was based upon the Fair Labor Standards Act,
Extrapolating this analysis to the case sub judice, Appellant argues that like the ADEA, the PHRA provides for legal and equitable relief. Thus, Appellant suggests that our court should embrace an analysis akin to that utilized in Lorillard and come to a similar conclusion regarding the right to a jury trial under the Pennsylvania Constitution. We decline to accept Appellant‘s offer.
First, we note that federal cases regarding the right to a jury trial are based upon the
Related to this argument, Appellant also submits that sexual discrimination should be viewed as a tort akin to personal injury or as an action for wrongful discharge which was cognizable at common law, and which has a common law basis. Again, we reiterate that this is not the proper analysis under our jurisprudence. Rather, the focus, at least for purposes of determining a constitutional right, is whether a trial by jury existed for the cause of action at the time of the adoption of our Constitution. Thus, we find Appellant‘s “analogy” argument to be contrary to this court‘s prior case law, and thus, without merit.4 Additionally, we note that the PHRA provides for a statutory cause of action that was formerly unavailable. Thus, any attempt at analogy must be viewed with circumspection.
Finally, we note that we do not perceive the lack of a right to jury trial under the PHRA as inimical to the policy goals of the statute. We are not convinced that the PHRA is now incapable of succeeding in its admirable mission of redressing and eliminating discrimination. While we are aware of the
The order of the Commonwealth Court is hereby affirmed.6
Justice ZAPPALA concurs in the result.
Justice CASTILLE files a dissenting opinion.
CASTILLE, Justice, dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the majority‘s conclusion that a plaintiff seeking monetary damages under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA or Act) is not entitled to a trial by jury. The right to a jury trial is central to our system of justice. See
The majority relies on our recent decision in Hoy v. Angelone, 554 Pa. 134, 720 A.2d 745 (1998), in which we found that a plaintiff in an action under the PHRA could not recover punitive damages. As the majority correctly states, that holding was based upon the fact that the PHRA does not specifically provide for punitive damages, nor does the legislative history indicate that the legislature intended that punitive damages be recoverable under the PHRA. The majority, however, overlooks the fact that our decision in Hoy was also grounded upon the underlying purpose of the PHRA, which is remedial rather than punitive in nature. While the availability of punitive damages would not be consistent with the remedial nature of the PHRA, the same is not true of the availability of a jury trial. Thus, this case is as distinguishable from Hoy as the issue of the availability of punitive damages is from the right to a jury trial. There exists no fundamental right to recover punitive damages; therefore, our decision in Hoy does not violate any fundamental rights. To extend the holding in Hoy to the instant case carries this Court‘s reasoning in Hoy to an unwarranted extreme where a fundamental constitutional right—the right to a jury trial—is infringed. I believe that such a result is contrary to the letter of the law in Pennsylvania.
The majority embraces a strict construction of the Pennsylvania Constitution when it also concludes that there is no constitutional right to a jury trial in employment discrimination actions because no such right existed prior to the enactment of our Constitution in 1790. In its analysis of this issue, the majority concedes that “the rights of women and minorities at that time in our history were ‘underdeveloped’ to say the least.” Op. at 1277. That being said, the majority then goes on to ensure that those rights will remain quite “underdeveloped” by applying a rule of law that would require that
Accordingly, I would reverse the order of the Commonwealth Court.