PITTSBURGH – The Montour Heights Country Club in Allegheny County has objected to a lawsuit brought against it by a former guest who blames the course for an accident in a golf cart.
“The allegations in plaintiff’s complaint are highly speculative and legally conclusory,” Montour Heights stated in its Nov. 9 preliminary objections filed with the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.
According to the October complaint, in August 2015, Fred Sheehan was a guest at the defendant country club. Shaheen claims that while riding as a passenger in a golf cart along the cart path, the driver, Pierre LaRouche, flipped the cart, causing Sheehan to fall.
Shaheen alleges that the golf cart path was uneven, steep, and generally not safe for driving on. According to Shaheen, he suffered multiple injuries from the fall, including arm, wrist, and shoulder pain, and a shoulder injury that needed surgery.
The lawsuit says that the defendants “negligently, carelessly, and/or recklessly keep and maintain the cart path and golf cart of the subject premises in a hazardous and dangerous state,” and that the country club should have fixed the cart path.
Montour Heights Country Club and LaRouche filed an objection through their attorney in response. According to the objection, “Plaintiff has not pled facts that would lead this court to believe that Montour Heights Country Club acted in any other way than negligent, which continues to be denied.”
The defendants state that their actions are not the definition of “reckless disregard” as plaintiff claims, and that if the accident were their fault, it should be based on the claim of negligence only.
The lawsuit also notes the defendants’ concerns that because Sheehan has sued for recklessness, he could possibly add punitive damages to later complaints, although the plaintiff did not ask for them in the original complaint.
The defendants asked that the court grant an order sustaining their preliminary objections, barring the plaintiff from adding punitive damages and striking all allegations of recklessness complaint. No trial date has been set.
The law firm of Ogg, Murphy & Perkosky P.C. is representing the plaintiff.
The defendants are represented by Michael T. Della Vecchia and The Law Offices of Terry L.M. Bashline.
Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County case number GD 17 11164