The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear the state attorney general's appeal of a Commonwealth Court decision allowing the plaintiff in a slip-and-fall suit against PennDOT to proceed even though the agency was not named in the caption of the complaint.Arguments pro and con ensued as to the legality of the issue.
What the plaintiffs is named an agency in the body of the complaint without properly naming the agency in the caption. Now state agencies have to examine every complaint in grave detail to determine if they have liability.
Since the commonwealth is always a distinct and separate legal entity, the naming of the commonwealth in the caption of the complaint instead of a commonwealth agency is always the naming of the wrong party and never merely a technical defect.
SEE: http://cts.vresp.com/c/?ALM/a9c174f6dc/cffa3e70bd/190a4888eb/ID=25514
