Superior Court Addresses the Quality-Quantity Test for Proper Venue Over a Corporation in a Given County

In the case of Mendoza-Colon v. Luscomb, Inc., No. 65 MDA 2024 (Pa. Super. April 10, 2025 Bowes, J., Olson, J., and Stabile, J.) (Op. by Olson, J.), the Superior Court ruled that the trial court had erroneously granted a transfer of venue motion rather than first ordering venue-related discovery where the evidence indicated that the Defendants offered business services to the county where the case was initially filed.

According to the Opinion, the Plaintiff was a resident of Lancaster County who sued Defendants who had a principal place of business in Lycoming County. The Plaintiff also asserted that one of the Defendants also conducted business in Luzerne County.

According to the Opinion, the Plaintiff alleged that she was tasked by her employer with driving her delivery truck to one of the Defendants’ locations in Lycoming County. After the Plaintiff arrived and her truck was loaded, one of the improperly stacked boxes fell on the Plaintiff’s hand, causing injuries.

Although the defendant was primarily located in Lycoming County and although the accident happened in Lycoming County, the Plaintiff filed suit in Luzerne County. The Defendants filed Preliminary Objections to venue and requested that the case be transferred from Luzerne County to Lycoming County.

In support of their Preliminary Objections, the Defendants argued that venue was improper in Luzerne County and that the only proper venue was Lycoming County, the location of Gary’s Furniture only place of business. The Defendants noted that no party was a resident of Luzerne County and it was additionally asserted that Gary’s Furniture had never conducted business in Luzerne County.

In response, the Plaintiff asserted that Gary’s Furniture offered free delivery within fifty (50) miles of its retail store, and noted that parts of Luzerne County were within that fifty (50) mile radius.

The trial court ordered a transfer of the venue from Luzerne County to Lycoming County.   

The Pennsylvania Superior Court vacated the trial court’s transfer of venue order and remanded the case for further proceedings. 

The appellate court reviewed the law of venue under Pa.R.C.P. 2179 applicable to corporations.  The Superior Court noted that the determination of whether a corporation  "regularly conducts business" in a particular county depends on the "quality" and "quantity" of the business conducted in a given county.

The Superior Court held that offering free delivery to residents to Luzerne County constituted a furtherance of the Defendants’ business activities that satisfied the “quality” prong of the “regularly conducts business” test.

The Superior Court also held that this evidence was sufficient to warrant the granting of the Plaintiff’s request for venue-related discovery to ascertain the extent or “quantity” of the Defendants’ business activities in Luzerne County. As such, the case was remanded.

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Source: The Legal Intelligencer State Appellate Case Alert, www.Law.com (April 28, 2025).