Plaintiffs petition for leave to amend their complaint after the period of the statute of limitations had expired. The complaint alleged that on or about August 5, 1974, wife plaintiff was injured at Gimbels store when she tripped over debris.
Thereafter depositions were taken and it was learned that this was not a trip and fall case but that plaintiff was knocked down by a moving cart which was being pushed by one of defendant’s employes and that she then stumbled on debris on the premises.
The date, the time, and the place of the alleged accident are the same. The parties are the same. The damages are the same. Defendant is charged with negligence of its employes either in leaving debris and/or in pushing the cart. Defendant would not be prejudiced by the amendment of the complaint since it has already proceeded with discovery.
The phrase “cause of action” did not become a term of art until the adoption of code pleading. See Clark, The Code Cause of Action, 33 Yale L. J. 817 (1924). Hence, one finds little assistance in early cases.
The Hohfeldian definition of a cause of action as being one of jural relationship is undoubtedly too broad to be helpful in resolving this question. In the case at bar the rights and duties vis-á-vis plaintiffs and defendants are the same under either the original complaint or the proposed amendment. This is obviously true in most cases unless there is a change in the parties or a change from contract to trespass or the reverse. Amendments to permit a change in parties: Miller v. Miller, 60 D. & C. 2d 687 (1973); Donahue v. Exner, 56 D. & C. 2d 301 (1971); Cheza v. Repas, 50 D. & C. 2d 158 (1970); Knier v. Pletz, 9 Lebanon 237 (1963); and an addition of a new count or counts after the statute of limitations has run: Webb v. Zern, 422 Pa. 424, 220 A. 2d 853 (1966); Soley v. Nelson, 12 D. & C. 2d 90 (1957); Walford v. Chambersburg Oil and Gas Co., 88 D. & C. 456 (1951); have been permitted.
Pomeroy’s definition is narrower. “Of these elements, the primary right and duty and the delict or wrong combined constitute the cause of action.”
The “operative facts” testis equally delusive. See U.S. v. Memphis Cotton Oil Co., 288 U.S. 62 (1933). Nor is Wheaton’s test, “arising out of the same transaction” helpful in the case at bar although it may be useful in other situations. See Wheaton, The Code “Cause of Action”: Its Definition, 22 Cornell L.Q. 1 (1936).
Pennsylvania has not adopted notice pleading which prevafis in the Federal courts. See Wright, Modern Pleading and the Pennsylvania Rules, 101 U. of Pa. L. Rev. 909 (1953). Under the rules, fact pleading is required: Pa.R.C.P. 1019(a) “The material facts on which a cause of action or defense is based shall be stated in a concise and summary form.”
This issue has been before the courts of Pennsylvania innumerable times. The approved tests to be applied in deciding whether a new or different cause of action is presented by an amended complaint are four: Would a judgment in the original case bar any further action in the amended complaint? Does the same measure of damages support both? Is the same defense and the same measure of proof required? Shenandoah Boro. v. Philadelphia, 367 Pa. 180, 79 A. 2d 433 (1951). This test has been repeated by every court passing upon the question but with varying results. The wavering line of authority from 1901 to 1966 has been traced in the excellent opinion in Kisilinsky v. Peoples Cab Co., 115 Pitts. L. J. 344 (1967). There is no need to report the holdings in the cases cited therein. No clear rationale can be deduced from these opinions.
In two recent opinions, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court appears to have adopted, at least implicitly, this liberal approach. In Catanese v. Scirica, 437 Pa. 519, 263 A. 2d 372 (1970), the court quoted with approval from Baltimore Steamship Co. v. Philips, 274 U.S. 316, 321 (1927), as follows: “A cause of action does not consist of facts but of the unlawful violation of a right which the facts show. The number and variety of the facts alleged do not establish more than one cause of action so long as their result, whether they be considered severally or in combination, is the violation of but one right by a single legal wrong . . . ‘The facts are merely the means, and not the end. They do not constitute the cause of action, but they show its existence by making the wrong appear.’” In Kuisis v. Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corp., 457 Pa. 321, 319 A. 2d 914
In the case at bar, the complaint alleges that plaintiff stumbled when she “slipped on debris and/or defect.” The amended complaint alleges in paragraph three that plaintiff stumbled and fell by reason of debris and/or defect when “her path was altered by an obstruction in the form of a moving cart which contacted plaintiff.” The “defect” or “delict” alleged in the complaint is the “carelessness, recklessness and negligence of defendant, through its agents, servants and/or employees” and consisted of the following:
“The aforesaid accident was caused by the carelessness, recklessness and negligence of defendant, through its agents, servants and/or employees, and consisted of the following:
“(a) Carelessly and negligently allowing and permitting said debris, foreign matter, obstruction and/or defect to be and remain on premises;
“(b) Said debris, foreign matter, obstruction and/or defect did exist on August 5, 1974 and for some time prior thereto;
“(c) The defendant has or should have had knowledge or notice of the existence of said debris, foreign matter, obstruction and/or defect which existed on said premises;
*421 “(d) Failure to notify and warn plaintiff of the existence of said debris, foreign matter, obstruction and/or defect;
“(e) Failing to provide proper and adequate lighting around and about said debris, foreign matter, obstruction and/or defect;
“(f) Violation of the Ordinance of the City of Philadelphia and Statutes of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania;
“(g) Otherwise failing to exercise due care under the circumstances.”
In the amended complaint the delict alleged is identical with respect to paragraph four (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) and (g). The amended complaint adds that defendant was negligent in “[flailing to have due regard for the point and position of plaintiff; [failing to keep a proper lookout while moving said cart; [failing to have said cart under proper and adequate control under the circumstances.”
The court concludes that, reduced to its essence, the gravamen of the complaint is negligence of defendant through its agents and employes.
Pa.R.C.P. 127 clearly states guidelines as to construction. Subsection (c) of the rules mandates consideration, inter alia, of (4) “the object to be attained,” and (8) “the practice followed under the rule.” The object of the rules was simplification of pleading and the ehmination of archaic barriers to the resolution of issues on the merits. The practice followed under the rule is unclear. However, the most recent decisions of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court: Catanese v. Scirica, supra; and Kuisis v. Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton, supra, indicate that “cause of action” shall be broadly construed. See
Motion for leave to amend the complaint is granted.
