Greenleaf v. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

Successor counsel for the defendant Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) attempts valiantly on appeal to undo an order of a Superior Court judge, acting under Mass.R.Civ.P. 37(b)(2), as appearing in 390 Mass. 1208 (1983), that the liability of the MBTA be taken as established, leaving only the damages to be assessed. Another judge found the damages to be $222,811, and a judgment for the plaintiff entered in that amount. We conclude that the order defaulting the MBTA, thereby establishing liability, was within the judge’s discretion. ■

The underlying tort action arose out of a…