Courthouse visitor brought personal injury action against Family Court and others after she was allegedly injured while walking into unmarked glass wall at Family Court building.
The Court of Common Pleas denied summary judgment on sovereign immunity grounds. Family Court appealed. The Commonwealth Court quashed notice of appeal. Family Court filed petition for allowance of appeal.
The Supreme Court held that order denying Family Court’s motion for summary judgment on its defense of sovereign immunity was an appealable collateral order.
Order denying Family Court’s motion for summary judgment on its defense of sovereign immunity in personal injury action was an appealable collateral order; issue was a purely legal question that did not require examination of merits of claim, right to sovereign immunity defense was too important to evade review before final judgment, and defense would be irreparably lost if appellate review of adverse decision on sovereign immunity were postponed until final judgment.