PHILADELPHIA – A co-defendant in a revived slip-and-fall case is asking for a $20,000 default judgment against him reached in January 2009 to be stricken from the record.
Vernon Z. Chestnut filed a petition to open judgment on July 6, seeking the City of Philadelphia to mark the previously reached judgment of $20,000 against city resident James Wysong as satisfied and strike it from the record.
James Wysong, along with Glen Mills resident Lilbet Wysong, Philadelphia-based Import Service Unlimited and the City of Philadelphia were named as a defendants in a slip-and-fall case filed in January 2008 by Philadelphia resident Eileen Coleman.
It is alleged that her complaint was sent to James Wysong on April 22, 2008, but received no response. Coleman’s counsel motioned for default judgment in the case, of which a $20,000 judgment was granted nine months later on Jan. 22, 2009.
On Feb. 3, 2009, the City of Philadelphia won a subsequent cross-claim against James Wysong for $20,000, upon settlement of Coleman’s litigation at that time.
The City of Philadelphia, through its counsel Drew Salaman, filed a Writ of Revival on March 5, which led to Chestnut counter-filing his petition to open and strike the judgment four months later.
Chestnut filed his petition to open the judgment and strike it because Wysong claimed when he settled with the City Of Philadelphia in a completely separate suit on Sept. 12, 2009, in which he was the plaintiff and the City was the defendant, one of the confidential settlement terms in that separate case was the City agreeing to waive the $20,000 cross-claim judgment. Wysong also received $240,000 as part of the settlement in that separate action.
A hearing on this matter is set for Thursday at Philadelphia City Hall in Court chambers.
The plaintiff is represented by Gary Brownstein, of Brownstein, Vitale & Weiss, in Media.
The defendants are represented by Stephen C. Miller in Philadelphia, Chestnut in Bala Cynwyd and Salaman of Salaman, Grayson & Henry, also in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas case 080102464
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nickpennrecord@gmail.com