Opinion ID: 1094082
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Proximate Cause under Mississippi Law

Text: ¶ 20. Owens Corning first argues that there is well-established Mississippi law demonstrating that summary judgment based on proximate cause principles was clear error, and cites Donald v. Amoco Production Co., 735 So.2d 161, 174 (Miss.1999) for the proposition that causation is generally a matter for the jury. In Donald, Donald argued that the trial court improperly addressed foreseeability, which he claimed was an issue of fact for the jury, and this Court explained: While duty and causation both involve foreseeability, duty is an issue of law, and causation is generally a matter for the jury. Juries are not instructed in, nor do they engage in, consideration of the policy matters and the precedent which define the concept of duty. This Court has held that the existence vel non of a duty of care is a question of law to be decided by the Court. Therefore, the lower court properly decided a matter of law. Id. at 174 (citations omitted & emphasis added). In Donald, we did not address Owens Corning's implied assertion that a case based on an issue of proximate cause must necessarily withstand a summary judgment motion, so that it may be decided by a jury. The issue of proximate causation, as opposed to actual causation, is generally a matter of law, which should be left in the hands of the court. ¶ 21. Owens Corning argues that its claims of unjust enrichment, fraud, and state antitrust violations should be decided using existing principles of proximate cause under Mississippi law, and not be decided based on the never before used remoteness doctrine. Although Owens Corning points to several Mississippi cases to support this contention, it falls short each time. Delahoussaye v. Mary Mahoney's, Inc., 783 So.2d 666 (Miss.2001), is one such case cited as an indirect injury case. In Delahoussaye, defendant sold beer to a minor, who allegedly gave the beer to another minor. The second minor later injured the plaintiff in an automobile accident. Although the chain of causation in Delahoussaye involves several steps, it is a direct injury case; the plaintiff did not derive his claim from a third-party's injury. ¶ 22. The issues in Delahoussaye involved the correctness of jury instructions concerning foreseeability as an element of proximate cause. The Court said: Proximate cause of an injury is that cause which in natural and continuous sequence unbroken by any efficient intervening cause produces the injury and without which the result would not have occurred. Foreseeability is an essential element of both duty and causation. In order to establish liability by proving negligence on the part of [defendant], Delahoussaye must prove ... that it was foreseeable that ... the minor who bought the alcohol from [defendant], would share the alcohol with another minor who would negligently cause injury to Delahoussaye. Id. at 671. Thus the issue of derivative or indirect injury as a bar to finding proximate causation did not surface in the Court's discussion of this case. Additionally, as discussed above, foreseeability and direct injury are distinct concepts, and substituting the foreseeability test in place of finding the existence of a direct injury, is error. Laborers Local 17, 191 F.3d at 235-36. ¶ 23. Owens Corning again points to Donald to establish that Mississippi law allows compensation for injury that is far removed from the original events of the lawsuit. Donald discusses foreseeability as an element of duty. In Donald, the plaintiff purchased property from owners who had contracts with oil companies to do oil well maintenance. The owners disposed of the oil field wastes on their property. Donald sued the oil companies. The trial court dismissed the case finding any alleged negligent acts on the part of the Oil Company Defendants are too remote to the Plaintiff to give rise to a duty owed... ( Id. at 175 (quoting lower court)). This Court reversed on appeal finding that the oil companies did owe a duty to the plaintiff. Obviously, the issue in Donald was not one of indirect injury or even causation, and in citing this case as support for its contention that indirect injuries are compensable under Mississippi law, Owens Corning has misconstrued the case. ¶ 24. Relying on Choctaw, Inc. v. Wichner, 521 So.2d 878 (Miss.1988), and Daulton v. Miller, 815 So.2d 1237 (Miss.Ct.App.2001), Owens Corning argues that Mississippi law allows compensation for derivative injuries through loss of consortium claims. This is true, but these cases are very clear that the plaintiffs in these actions stand in the shoes of the injured third-party, subject to all defenses that would have been available against the injured person. Choctaw, 521 So.2d at 881. This is no different than what the courts of appeals have said and that Owens Corning concedes: third-party recoupment claims must be brought as subrogation actions. This is because the alleged injury is too remote to be brought in direct actions. See Texas Carpenters Health Benefit Fund v. Philip Morris, Inc., 199 F.3d 788 (5th Cir.2000) (funds' lawsuits constitute an illegitimate end-run around principles of subrogation.).