Federal Judge Holds Pennsylvania Psychologist Donna Pinter in Contempt for Failure to Respond to Subpoena

January 21, 2020

A federal judge has held a Sunbury (Pennsylvania) psychologist in contempt and sanctioned her $8,288 for failing to comply with a subpoena and a court order in a civil case stemming from a 2016 traffic crash.

U.S. Middle District Judge Matthew W. Brann, in an opinion issued Friday, said he has never encountered the “obstinance” displayed by Donna Pinter of Psychological Services Clinic Inc.

He called Pinter’s defiance “extraordinary” and pointed out that she never objected to the validity of the subpoena or court order and did not provide an adequate excuse.

“She forced the parties and this court to waste significant and limited resources litigating these motions and convening two hearings for what should have been a routine document production,” he wrote.

The defendants sought information about Kenneth Kerlin of Middleburg from Pinter because she has treated him for years and in his suit he claims the crash, which involved two tractor-trailers, has caused him mental suffering.

Kerlin sued Philip Howard of Spencer, W. Va., and Knight Transportation Inc. of Phoenix, Ariz., over a Feb. 29, 2016, crash on Route 254 near Interstate 80 in Northumberland County.

The crash occurred as Howard, driving a rig owned by Knight, was attempting to turn onto Route 254 after leaving Interstate 80. Kerlin’s rig struck the rear of the trailer on Howard’s rig.

Kerlin, who was injured, is seeking unspecified damages and says the crash was Howard’s fault. The defense contends Kerlin had plenty of time to avoid the collision.

Another reason the defendants say they want Kerlin’s psychological records is that commercial drivers must meet certain physical and mental requirements.

Kerlin, 72, acknowledges he receives psychological counseling first as court ordered and later voluntarily, court documents state.

Pinter on June 17 was served with a subpoena for Kerlin’s records but did not produce them, respond to a Sept. 12 court order to do so or respond to Kerlin’s faxed authorization to do so, Brann said.

She finally responded Nov. 14 that she would provide some data but believed Kerlin’s “treatment had nothing to do with case” and said copying records “is a hardship and a waste of trees,” the opinion states.

After she told the defense she would allow them to view he records only in her office, Brann ordered her to appear for a Dec. 19 hearing. She did not.

The judge issued an arrest warrant and when marshals went to her office and home they learned she had left the country without advising the court.

Pinter produced 200 pages, or about half of the Kerlin file, on Jan. 7 but there were substantial redactions, Brann wrote.

At a sanctions hearing Tuesday “at long last she appeared with her counsel” and produced the files, Brann wrote.

The $8,288 Pinter is ordered to pay covers the legal costs incurred by the defendants in obtaining the requested records.

Source: “Judge holds Pa. psychologist in contempt, calls her defiance ‘extraordinary’ in trucker’s case,” PennLive, January 18, 2020. URL: https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/01/judge-holds-sunbury-psychologist-in-contempt-calls-her-definance-extraordinary.html