Lindh v. Surman
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1999.
560 Pa. 1, 742 A.2d 643.
■ JUSTICE NEWMAN.
In this appeal, we are asked to decide whether a donee of an engagement ring must return
the ring or its equivalent value when the donor breaks the engagement. The facts of this
case depict a tumultuous engagement between Rodger Lindh (Rodger), a divorced,
middle-aged man, and Janis Surmen (Janis) the object of Rodger’s inconstant affections.
In August of 1993, Rodger proposed marriage to Janis. To that purpose, he presented her
with a diamond engagement ring that he purchased for $17,400. Rodger testified that the
price was less than the ring’s market value because he was a “good customer” of the
jeweler’s, having previously purchased a $4,000 ring for his ex-wife and other expensive
jewelry for his children. Janis, who had never been married, accepted his marriage
proposal and the ring. Discord developed in the relationship between Rodger and Janis,
and in October of 1993 Rodger broke the engagement and asked for the return of the ring.
At that time, Janis obliged and gave Rodger the ring. Rodger and Janis attempted to
reconcile. They succeeded, and Rodger again proposed marriage, and offered the ring, to
Janis. For a second time, Janis accepted. In March of 1994, however, Rodger called off
the engagement. He asked for the return of the ring, which Janis refused, and this
litigation ensued.
Rodger filed a two-count complaint against Janis, seeking recovery of the ring or a
judgment for its equivalent value. The case proceeded to arbitration, where a panel of
arbitrators awarded judgment for Janis. Rodger appealed to the Court of Common Pleas
of Allegheny County, where a brief non-jury trial resulted in a judgment in favor of
Rodger in the amount of $21,200. Janis appealed to the Superior Court, which affirmed
the trial court in a 2-1 panel decision…
We begin our analysis with the only principle on which all parties agree: that
Pennsylvania law treats the giving of