Zielinski v. Philadelphia Piers, Inc

Facts

Plaintiff Zielinski sued Philadelphia Piers, Inc., Defendant, alleging that a forklift, owned by Defendant, caused Plaintiff’s injuries that occurred when Plaintiff was in a collision with another forklift on a pier. Defendant generally denied this section of the complaint. Carload Contractors, Inc., the employer of the operator of the other forklift, filed a claim with their insurance company regarding the accident. Defendant sent a letter to its insurance company stating that Plaintiff was injured by a forklift. In addition, Defendant asked the insurance company to answer that the complaint should be filed against Carload Contractors and not Defendant because the forklift was operated by Sandy Johnson, an employee of Carload Contractors. Defendant was also aware of this error and investigated whether Defendant and not Carload Contractors, owned the forklift. Johnson stated he was Defendant’s employee in his deposition. At a pre-trial conference over two and a half years later, Plaintiff first found out that over a year before the accident, the business of moving freight on the pier was sold from Defendant to Carload Contractors. Johnson was thus transferred to Carload Contractors’ payroll, but was unaware of the change. Defendant admitted that it owned the forklift, which was leased to Carload Contractors. Plaintiff sought a declaration that Defendant owned the forklift and that the employee driving the forklift was Defendant’s employee.