Frank LaGrotta

HARRISBURG — Former state Rep. Frank LaGrotta is not immune from a lawsuit that accuses him of acting outside the scope of his legislative duties when he tried to block a nursing home sale, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The Commonwealth Court sent the matter back to Lawrence County court, where Sylvan Heights Realty Partners LLC and Americare Management Services Inc. are suing LaGrotta for comments they claim were malicious. LaGrotta, who formerly represented part of Butler County in the state Legislature, had worked to defeat the companies' efforts to manage and buy the nursing home from the county government.

The decision is more bad news for LaGrotta who, in a separate matter, faces trial on charges he placed two relatives in state jobs for which no work was actually performed.

LaGrotta represented District 10 in the Legislature, which included Slippery Rock borough and township in Butler County. He was defeated in the 2006 Democratic primary election. LaGrotta admitted that his loss, at least in part, came from voter reaction to his middle-of-the-night majority vote in 2005 to accept a pay raise.

And even though the Legislature later voted to rescind the pay raise, the original vote so galvanized voters across the state that several long-term incumbents were defeated.

Jeffrey T. Morris, lawyer for the companies, said LaGrotta's actions were "outside the scope of his responsibilities and the scope of any immunities he would have had as a state legislator. This was entirely a county matter. The state was not involved at all in the contract."

Americare had an agreement to manage Hill View Manor for the county during an interim period while the sale was pending, and claims it lost six months' worth of management fees as a result of LaGrotta's actions. Sylvan Heights was pursuing a purchase of the home that fell through.

The two companies share "some commonality of ownership" but are separate entities, Morris said. According to the Commonwealth Court decision, the companies claim LaGrotta discussed the sale with county officials, complained about "alleged improprieties" to the state Health Department and asked the state police to investigate people involved in the sale for supposed ties to organized crime.

Commonwealth Court said it was premature for it to definitively resolve the issue of immunity. It noted that courts have limited their use of the U.S. Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause, which protects lawmakers, to acts that are clearly part of the due functioning of the legislative process.