Strickland v. Commonwealth, DOT

In Strickland v. Commonwealth, DOT, 132 Pa. Commw. 605, 574 A.2d 110 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1990), the Court considered the application of 67 Pa. Code 177.602(b). In Strickland, the Department suspended an inspection station's vehicle and emission inspection certificates because: (1) two employees altered an inspection sticker to make it look like an emission sticker; (2) the employee listed as the one conducting the inspection in question was not the employee who had signed the sticker. At the time of these fraudulent acts, Strickland, the station owner, was not at the station. When informed by telephone that the station had run out of emission stickers, he instructed his employees to borrow some from another station. Unbeknownst to Strickland, the other station had also run out of emission stickers. Strickland did not authorize his employees to alter inspection stickers. Upon returning to the station the next day and discovering that both stations lacked the proper stickers, he ordered both stations to cease inspections. The trial court found that the employees had acted within the scope of their employment. Id. at 113. However, it also found that Strickland did not have personal knowledge of, and did not participate in, the actions of his employees. On appeal to this Court, Strickland argued that his lack of knowledge entitled him to consideration of assignment of points in lieu of suspension. The Court concluded the Department committed an error of law by not considering, and putting into the record, its consideration of the alternate penalty set forth in Section 177.602(b), i.e., points.