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blur-car-caution-dash-163945-1024x683Sometimes, there are situations that appear to have an obvious result. Person A causes injury to Person B and B sues A. All the evidence points to A being at fault and B being hurt and in need of recovery.  However, what if in the middle of the case, the court held that B was not hurt at all and therefore did not need to recover? How does a result like this even come about? What does B do? This situation is illustrated in a case arising from a New Orleans motor vehicle accident from 2014.

On January 7, 2014, Michael Mirandy (“Mirandy”) was driving down Interstate 10 in New Orleans on his way home from a doctor’s appointment where he had been treated for injuries from a car accident the previous year. Unfortunately for Mirandy, he was rear ended by a car driven by Gary Walters, Jr (“Walters”). Three days after the accident, Mirandy returned to his physician, Dr. Chad Domangue (“Domangue”) with complaints of pain in his neck and back. Domangue ordered an MRI that month and compared it to previous MRI Mirandy underwent on July 13, 2013. When he compared the two MRIs, it was clear that many discs and vertebrae that had been normal in 2013 were now injured, and those that were already inflamed or displaced in 2013 were now in worse shape.

Mirandy and his wife then sued Walters for damages in the Civil District Court for Orleans Parish. Both Domangue and Mirandy’s orthopedic surgeon testified that many of Mirandy’s injuries were not present before the 2014 accident and because of that accident, he needed surgery. During the jury charge conference, one of the jury charges suggested that the accident was a “minimal or minor collision.” Mirandy’s counsel objected to this language and the court agreed to modify it. However, the charge was not modified and after four days of trial, the jury held that while Walters was at fault for causing the accident, Mirandy was not injured. As a result of this judgment, Mirandy did not received damages. He appealed to the Court of Appeal for the Fourth Circuit, arguing that the unmodified jury charge improperly instructed the jury, and that the District Court erred when it found that he was not injured in the car accident.

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photo-of-person-holding-pen-1028726-1024x683Why do we buy insurance? Most people expect that when they buy insurance, they will receive financial reimbursement for losses caused by accidents or many of life’s unexpected circumstances. It can certainly be a surprise when they expect insurance and then the insurance company refuses to provide it. What are their options when this happens? Filing a lawsuit is one, but won’t always guarantee a day in court, as a 2017 case from the Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit illustrates.

Advanced Radiographics Inc., (“ARI”) is a company that stores health records for medical providers in Louisiana. Its corporate office and one of its warehouses are located in Duson, Louisiana, but the company also has eight other locations. For insurance, ARI purchased general liability coverage which covered all ten of ARI’s locations, and property insurance which only covered ARI’s corporate office. Colony Insurance Company (“Colony”) provided the property insurance which was purchased through insurance broker Kellie Stein (“Stein”) of Brown and Brown of Baton Rouge, LLC (“Brown”).

Unfortunately for ARI, in 2014, a car crashed into the Duson warehouse and caused a fire to break out. ARI filed an insurance claim to Colony, but Colony denied it. For refusing to file, ARI sued Colony, Stein, and Brown in the Fifteenth Judicial District Court for Lafayette Parish. Stein and Brown filed a peremptory exception of no cause of action and in 2016, the District Court granted the exception. ARI then appealed, claiming that the exception of no cause of action should not have been granted.

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camera-event-live-settings-66134-1024x683No one wants to be held liable for the injuries of another. Wet floor signs, warning tags, and regular inspections are all ways we provide notice to others of hazardous conditions. Sometimes, though, when a hazard is unexpected or has never presented itself as a potential risk of harm, liability is inevitable. The question then becomes, what is the cost?

On December 14, 2010 Vicki Badeaux (“Badeaux”) arrived at the set for an informational video that was to be filmed by the Louisiana Department of Economic Development (“LDED”). Badeaux was scheduled to act in the video and brought several outfits to the set for the crew to pick one for her to wear. James Dupree (“Dupree”), the LDED Fast Start Department Manager wanted to review the script with Badeaux before filming, so he instructed her to hang her clothes on a nearby C-stand, a general purpose stand that was kept on the set. When Badeaux tried to hang her clothes on the C-stand, it fell and hit the right side of her head. Badeaux declined medical assistance and ended up being able to act in the video that day. However, two weeks later, Badeaux began to feel sharp pain in her right temple. Almost a year after the incident, in December of 2011, she filed a personal injury lawsuit against LDED in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court for East Baton Rouge Parish.

At the end of the case, the District Court found that both parties were at fault for the 2010 incident, with LDED 75% at fault for Badeaux’s damages and Badeaux 25% at fault. It was held that Badeaux suffered $41,655 in general damages—damages that cannot be calculated with relative certainty, such as mental or physical pain or suffering, inconvenience, loss of gratification or intellectual or physical enjoyment, or other losses of daily life. Mack v. Imperial Fire & Cas. Ins. Co., 167 So. 3d 691 (La. App. 2014). With the general damages total and allocations of fault, the District Court held that LDED was liable to Badeaux for 75% of her total damages, plus interest, therefore owing her $37,500 and court costs. LDED appealed and the Court of Appeal for the First Circuit determined it would review the District Court’s finding of general damages, as well as its overall holding of LDED’s liability to Badeaux.

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architectural-photography-of-white-and-green-church-bell-792554-646x1024Freedom of speech is one of America’s most celebrated rights. However, it does not mean that courts tolerate all types of speech. After all, we have all heard that the freedom of speech does not allow an individual to falsely yell fire in a crowded theater. Despite there being restrictions, courts take the freedom of speech extremely seriously and will not allow it to be encroached simply because someone felt offended by a certain use of free speech. 

Robert and Lisa Mayeux and their daughter, Rebecca, were members of the Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church. Upon hearing from their daughter that George J. Charlet, Jr., a fellow churchgoer, sexually abused her, Robert and Lisa sued not only Charlet, but also Reverend Jeffrey Bayhi and the Roman Catholic Church of the Diocese of Baton Rouge as well for being complacent of the abuse despite knowing that Charlet was abusing their daughter. 

Louisiana Television Broadcasting (“LTB”) ran several stories of the above sexual abuse case. Many of these stories prominently featured Bayhi. In some of the graphics that accompanied the stories, there were texts that stated that Rebecca was abused by a priest and that the priest had died during the investigation. However, these texts were erroneous. Charlet, the alleged perpetrator, was not a priest–Bayhi was. However, LTB did acknowledge that these texts were erroneous later in time. Furthermore, these stories showed video footage of Bayhi in his priest’s cassock. Bayhi filed a lawsuit against LTB for defamation. LTB filed a Motion to Strike in accordance with La. C.C.P. art. 971, stating that Bayhi did not have a legitimate claim. The Trial Court granted LTB’s motion.

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building-in-city-against-sky-256490-977x1024You lose your case. However, your lawyer tells you not to despair. She tells you that you can appeal the trial court’s judgment at the appellate court. However, it is not always that simple. Appellate courts, like trial courts, do not just accept every single case that comes their way. They must first have jurisdiction over a case, which simply means that they must meet certain requirements to hear the case. Without jurisdiction, an appellate court will be unable to take your case even if your claim may be legitimate. 

A multi-vehicle accident occurred on a highway in Jefferson Parish on December 25, 2014. The accident began when the vehicle driven by Max Beagle struck the vehicle driven by Elridge Thompson, Jr. Shadid Chaudry, who witnessed the collision between Beagle and Thompson, stopped his vehicle nearby to render assistance. Carrie Thiele was in the passenger seat of Chaudry’s vehicle. However, upon exiting the vehicle, Thiele was struck by a motorcycle driven by David Casse, who had swerved to avoid Chaudry’s vehicle. Upon hitting Thiele, Casse was thrown off his motorcycle while his motorcycle continued to move towards Thompson’s vehicle, eventually crashing into it. 

Thompson filed a lawsuit against both Beagle and Casse and their respective insurance companies. Casse in turn filed a lawsuit against Thiele. In Casse’s lawsuit, he claimed that his collision with Thiele caused him severe injuries. Thiele filed a motion, stating that Casse’s lawsuit was barred because Casse’s lawsuit was filed more than a year after the accident. The Trial Court, without giving any written opinion, agreed with Thiele and dismissed Casse’s lawsuit. 

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photo-of-person-holding-black-pen-959816-1-1024x682Trials can be extremely expensive. One of the most expensive parts of a trial can be the costs associated with taking depositions. Therefore, it is in a party’s best interest to recuperate those costs in the aftermath of a successful outcome. In fact, it is the general rule that included in the damages of a successful party are the costs associated with depositions. However, a trial court may sometimes erroneously or negligently include such costs in a party’s damages. 

On October 24, 2014, Pratima Shah, while making a left turn from Causeway Boulevard to Jefferson Highway in Metairie, crashed into a vehicle driven by Dr. James Mayo. Shah filed a lawsuit against Mayo and the Government Employees Insurance Company (“GEICO”), Mayo’s insurance provider. Two days before the trial, Shah’s lawyer filed a Motion to Exclude Live Trial Testimony and for Costs, which was made to bar Mayo from testifying at the trial and to recuperate the costs associated with the perpetuation deposition Shah’s lawyer had to take of Mayo. 

Apparently, Mayo was initially going to be unavailable for the trial. Therefore, Shah’s lawyer had to travel to New York, where Mayo resided, to take a perpetuation deposition of Mayo. A perpetuation deposition is a deposition that is made because a witness cannot make it to the actual trial. The statements made in a perpetuation deposition can be used in lieu of the witness’s live testimony. However, Mayo was able to make it to trial, so Shah’s taking of Mayo’s perpetuation deposition would have been a waste of time and money if Mayo was able to testify in person at the trial. The Trial Court did, however, allow Mayo to testify at the trial. Despite allowing Mayo to testify, the Trial Court ruled in favor of Shah. The Trial Court ruled that Shah was entitled to $2,885.00. This amount did not, however, include the costs associated with the perpetuation deposition Shah’s lawyer made. Shah appealed, asking for money damages to recuperate the costs associated with the perpetual deposition. 

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blur-dusk-evening-gas-station-399635-1024x681It is commonly thought that when an injury occurs, a harmed individual can recover monetary damages for the injuries he or she sustained.  However, if a risk is seen as “open and obvious,” there is a duty on individuals to exercise ordinary care. In some cases, individuals who fail to do this are prevented from recovery even if they are injured.

As she got older, Nancy Morel had difficulties walking and began using a cane after her 2001 knee replacements.  When at a Shell gas station in Metairie, Louisiana, on October 25, 2014, Morel noticed some hoses next to the curb in the entrance of the gas station’s door entrance. Morel walked in the store to pay for her gas. Upon exiting the store, she attempted to move the hoses with her cane, but ended up catching her right foot in the hoses and falling.  Morel brought a lawsuit against the Shell’s station owner, Cheema Properties LLC and Cheema Three LLC (“defendants”) for her injuries sustained in the fall.

The defendants filed a motion for summary judgment, putting forth an argument before the court that the hoses were “open, obvious, and plainly visible” and that they were not an unreasonable risk of harm to an individual exercising ordinary care.  Morel countered by stating that a summary judgment motion should not be granted because there were facts about the situation which her and the defendants disagreed upon, the gas station video surveillance footage was not preserved even after a request by Morel’s attorney to do so, and there was a dispute about the supervision of the employee who left the hoses by the curb.  The district court relied on Morel’s own deposition, and granted the summary judgment motion after finding that the hoses were open and obvious.

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aged-alarm-clock-antique-background-552774-1024x762When a lawsuit is filed for an injury, most people assume that the claim will be sorted out in court in a timely manner.  Sometimes, however, a case can get significantly delayed by years, even before a trial has occurred. In these instances, it is also possible that the case becomes “abandoned” if neither side takes any action towards furthering the course of the lawsuit.  For one West Feliciana woman, the defense tried to do just that and claimed case abandonment.

In September 2005, Sheryl Cummings filed a lawsuit individually and on behalf of Shedrick Cummings, alleging that Shedrick became a quadriplegic after sustaining severe injuries from a football game at West Feliciana High School Stadium.  Cummings named the West Feliciana Parish School Board (WFPSB), West Baton Rouge Parish School Board (WBRPSB), and several insurance companies, including AIG Insurance (National Union), claiming that there was insurance accident policy coverage of $1,000,000. 

The district court judge dismissed claims against several insurance companies and severed the claim from WFPSB from the claims against National Union.  In July 2009, all of Cummings’ claims against WFPSB were dismissed. In January 2016, National Union filed a motion to dismiss Cummings’ claims, alleging abandonment because of no steps taken on the case in over three years.  The trial court granted the motion and dismissed the claims. Shedrick Cummings appealed the decision to the State of Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal.

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grocery-cart-with-item-1005638-768x1024Slip and Fall lawsuits commonly arise in the grocery store or restaurant setting.  And in such cases, Louisiana’s statute on merchant liability apprises merchants of how they could be found liable for any resulting injuries.  What happens however when a person falls and injures themselves in a commercial but non-merchant location? Are these lawsuits analyzed under general negligence law?  A recent case involving a hospital in Lake Charles provided an entirely separate standard.           

Ronnaesa Reider was visiting Christus St. Patrick Hospital in Lake Charles, Louisiana when she slipped on an unknown substance and sustained a knee injury.   Just prior to Ms. Reider’s fall, Jamon Thomas, an employee of Hospital Housekeeping Systems, LLC (“HHS”), used a scrubber machine on the floor where Ms. Reider fell.  Ms. Reider alleged that the machine left water and cleaning fluid on the floor causing Ms. Reider’s fall. Mr. Thomas testified that he noticed a wet streak on the floor and concluded his machine must have failed to dry up the liquid.  However, an unidentified person also stepped on the alleged wet spot just five seconds prior to Ms. Reider and he did not fall.   

Ms. Reider filed a lawsuit against HHS and the Hospital alleging negligence in allowing the liquid to remain on the floor and for failing to warn about the liquid’s presence. Ms. Reider filed a motion for summary judgment against HHS asserting that HHS was completely at fault for the fall.  In support, she included video surveillance showing the scrubber machine in the area just prior to her fall. She also included her own deposition testimony as well as Mr. Thomas’ deposition. In response, HHS asserted the video only showed a clean, clear hallway and that there were inconsistencies in all of the depositions.  Specifically, portions of Mr. Thomas’ deposition asserted there was no liquid at all on the floor. Ms. Reider further provided conflicting accounts of the amount of water on the floor: ranging from a few droplets to a five foot streak.  

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black-calculator-near-ballpoint-pen-on-white-printed-paper-53621-1024x603Businesses face many liability risks or risks of being sued. These include injuries to their employees on the job. Workers’ compensation is designed to address such injuries. In Louisiana, businesses in specific industries may agree to pool together with one another in order to “self-insure” these claims.  This means that the businesses pay the claims from a specific fund rather than handle them through outside insurance companies. The concept of indemnity is important in these sorts of arrangements. Indemnity involves the paying back of money or the defense in court of one party by the other. Of course, money is not unlimited, and organizations providing may exclude certain coverage in particular situations. The business affected may not agree with this.  The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal recently considered such a dispute.  

Two employees of The Columns Hotel in New Orleans got into a physical altercation while at work.  One of them was injured and sued the hotel and his coworker. As part of this same lawsuit, the Columns Hotel (“the hotel”) brought in the Louisiana Restaurant Association Self-Insurers Fund.  The hotel claimed that the indemnity agreement between the parties should have applied in this situation. The fund disagreed, filing for summary judgment to have the court dismiss the claim on the basis that the agreement was not insurance.  The trial court agreed and dismissed these particular claims. The hotel appealed.

The issue for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal ultimately dealt with how to interpret the indemnity agreement.  Although the hotel argued that insurance law should apply to this contract, Louisiana law specifically excludes self-insurance organizations from the Louisiana Insurance Code. La. R.S. 23:1195(A)(1).  Thus, the Fourth Circuit looked at the indemnity agreement between the hotel and the fund itself to determine how it should be applied.  Contracts in Louisiana must be interpreted only to determine what the parties intended the terms to mean. La C.C. art 2045 Here, the parties disagreed as to what situations would be excluded from coverage by the fund.  The exclusions the fund relied on were bodily injury, as well as assault and battery. The exception for bodily injury excluded from coverages situations where someone was injured by actions that should have been reasonably expected to cause such an injury.  The court applied this to the fight between the employees. Their actions during the altercation would have been reasonably expected to cause injury. Thus, the Fourth Circuit found that the bodily injury exclusion would have applied. Therefore, the fund had been entitled to summary judgment on that point.    The other exclusion was that of assault and battery. The exclusion includes reference to bodily injury caused by assault and battery. In Louisiana, battery is a “harmful or offensive contact” and assault is any action that would threaten such contact. Lawson v. Straus, 750 So. 2d 234 (La. Ct. App. 1999).  Under these definitions, the fight between the employees would be considered assault and battery.  Thus the agreement would not cover the se bodily injuries. Because these two exclusions applied to the situation, the Fourth Circuit found that summary judgment had been correctly granted.  

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