Audrey Thompson was injured in an automobile accident that occurred when a vehicle driven by Chad Harp rear-ended a vehicle driven by Susan Young. This triggered a chain of events where three other vehicles, including the Thompson vehicle, were rear-ended as a result of Harp’s conduct. The Thompsons filed a lawsuit and named Harp, the driver allegedly at fault, and his insurer, State Farm, as defendants.
Because of the number of potential personal injury claimants and the belief the $300,000 per accident coverage limit of State Farm’s policy was “inadequate to cover the amount of damages suffered,” the Thompsons also named her uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM) insurance carrier, Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO), as a defendant. The plaintiffs also sought recovery for loss of consortium, damages for medical expenses and “loss of the wife’s income” on behalf of the marital community. Moreover, they explicitly focused their damages to the “jurisdictional maximum” of the Alexandria City Court in addition to legal interest thereon from date of judicial demand, until paid in full as well as court costs.
In compliance with its jurisdictional limit, the Alexandria City Court entered judgment, awarding Audrey $50,000 in general damages and awarding Charles,on his own behalf, $20,000 for loss of consortium, and $30,000 for past and future medical expenses on behalf of the couple’s community. State Farm filed an exception claiming that the amount in dispute exceeded $50,000. Examination of the State Farm policy revealed a $100,000 limit per person and a $300,000 limit per accident, which exceeded the city court’s jurisdictional limits. According to the court of appeal, the trial court was required to transfer the action to a court with the appropriate subject matter jurisdiction, upon finding that the claims exceeded the jurisdictional limit. However, the court of appeal erred in its reading of plaintiffs’ petitions and our Code of Civil Procedure provisions governing the subject matter jurisdiction of city courts.