Court Opinion

ID: 9404765
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-06-25 02:05:49.132615+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:20:16.957120
License: Public Domain

STATE OF LOUISIANA

                              COURT OF APPEAL

                                FIRST CIRCUIT

                                NO. 2022 CA 1290

                    LAWRENCE DAVID PHILLIPS, JR.

                                     VERSUS

    EXXON CHEMICAL LOUISIANA, LLC, AND/ OR EXXON CHEMICAL
AMERICAS, EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION, TAYLOR-SEIDENBACH,
     INC., THE MCCARTY CORPORATION, ANCO INSULATIONS, INC.,
        INGERSOLL RAND COMPANY, AMEC FOSTER WHEELER
    CONSTRUCTORS, INC., RESCO HOLDINGS, LLC, AS SUCCESSOR TO
    M.W. KELLOGG COMPANY, OWENS ILLINOIS, INC. D/ B/ A OWENS-
    ILLINOIS, JACOBS ENGINEERING GROUP, INC., AS SUCCESSOR -IN -
          INTEREST TO H.E. WIESE, INC. AND JACOBS/ WIESE
        CONSTRUCTORS, INC., ENTERGY GULF STATES LA, LLC,
     UNIROYAL HOLDINGS, INC., TURNER INDUSTRIES GROUP, LLC
        SUCCESSOR -IN -INTEREST TO NATIONAL MAINTENANCE
       CORPORATION AND NICHOLS CONSTRUCTION COMPANY,
          AMERON INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION, AND CBS
    CORPORATION, F/K/A WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORPORATION

                                      Judgment Rendered:
                                                               JUN 2 3 2023

                                Appealed from the
                            19th Judicial District Court
                  In and for the Parish of East Baton Rouge
                                State of Louisiana
                                Docket No. 691676

              The Honorable Timothy E. Kelley, Judge Presiding

Lewis O. Unglesby                            Counsel for Plaintiff/Appellant,
Lance C. Unglesby                            Eunice Phillips and Mollie
Jamie F. Gontarek                            McCann, Individually and on
Adrian M. Simm, Jr.                          behalf of Lawrence David Phillips,
Baton Rouge, Louisiana                       Jr.

I            seni;
                      n q
                       J
Anthony Todd Caruso
Denham Springs, Louisiana

David M. Bienvena, Jr.              Counsel for Defendant/Appellee,
John Allain Viator                  Exxon Mobil Corporation
Melissa Jade Avant
Thomas C. Naquin
Samantha M. Kennedy
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

James M. Williams
Daniel E. Buras, Jr.
Patrick R. Follette
Marshall C. Watson, Jr.
Inemesit U. O' Boyle
Metairie, Louisiana

           BEFORE: GUIDRY, C.J., WOLFE, AND MILLER, JJ.

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MILLER, J.

        This matter is before us on appeal by plaintiffs, Eunice Phillips and Mollie

McCann,     individually, and on behalf of Lawrence David Phillips,             Jr., from a

judgment of the trial court entered in conformity with a jury' s verdict dismissing

plaintiffs' claims against Exxon Mobil Corporation with prejudice. For the reasons

that follow, the appeal is dismissed.

                    FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

        On December         12,   2019, Lawrence    David Phillips,   Jr. filed a    suit for

damages against his former employer, Exxon Mobil Corporation (" Exxon"),                   as

well as other defendants, alleging damages sustained as a result of his exposure to

asbestos materials belonging to Exxon.'           Mr. Phillips alleged that from 1969 to

1979, during his employment with Exxon as an apprentice pipe fitter, pipe fitter,

and   welder,    the nature of his job duties required him to directly manipulate,

remove,    and    repair pipe equipment that         had   been   insulated   with   asbestos

containing materials.       Mr. Phillips further alleged that as a result of his exposure

and inhalation of asbestos dust, he was diagnosed with mesothelioma in October of

2019.

        The matter was tried before a jury from April 5, 2021 to April 21, 2021.          On

April 7, 2021, Mr. Phillips died. His wife, Eunice Phillips, and daughter, Mollie

McCann, were substituted as plaintiffs in his stead. At the conclusion of trial, the

jury returned a verdict finding, as to Exxon, that: ( 1) Mr. Phillips did not prove, by

a preponderance of the evidence, that asbestos containing products in the care,

custody, and control of Exxon were a defect that presented an unreasonable risk of

harm and were a substantial contributing factor in causing him to develop

mesothelioma;      and (   2) Mr. Phillips did not prove,    by a preponderance of the

evidence, that Exxon was negligent for Mr. Phillips' exposure to asbestos and that

        kin addition, Exxon Chemical Louisiana, LLC and/ or Exxon Chemical Americas were
improperly named as a defendant herein.

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it was a substantial contributing cause of his mesothelioma. On May 5, 2021, the

trial court signed a judgment in conformity with the jury' s verdict dismissing

plaintiffs' claims against Exxon with prejudice.

          Plaintiffs then filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict

  JNOV")      or alternatively, new trial. Following a hearing, the trial court signed a

judgment on July 12,        2021,   denying plaintiffs' motion for JNOV and granting

plaintiffs'   motion for new trial.         Thereafter, Exxon filed         an application for

supervisory review of the July 12, 2021 judgment with this Court.2 On March 17,
2022, this court granted the writ application, reversed the portion of the trial

court' s July 12, 2021 judgment granting plaintiffs'                motion for new trial,    and

rendered judgment denying plaintiffs' motion for new trial.               See Phillips v. Exxon

Chemical Louisiana, LLC, 2021- 1444 ( La.               App.      Int Cir. 3117122),   2022 WL

807958 ( unpublished),

          On July 5, 2022, plaintiffs filed a motion for a devolutive appeal from the

underlying May 5, 2021 judgment on the merits.                  Therein, plaintiffs contend that

they sought review of this court' s March 17, 2022 writ action granting Exxon' s

writ application and denying plaintiffs' motion for new trial with the Louisiana

Supreme Court, which was denied on June 8, 2022.                        See Phillips v. Exxon

Chemical Louisiana LLC, 2022- 00645 ( La. 618122), 338 So. 3d 1196.                    Plaintiffs

contend that pursuant to La. C. C. P. art. 2087, their motion for appeal is timely

where it was filed less than sixty days after the Supreme Court' s denial of their

writ application.

          On November 5, 2021, this court issued notice to the parties that the writ was not
considered because Exxon failed to provide a copy of the hearing transcript or the trial judge' s
reasons in violation of Uniform Rules of Louisiana Courts of Appeal, Rule 4- 5( C)( 7). The
notice further provided that Exxon failed to include a transcript of the underlying trial on the
merits.    This court, however, allowed supplementation of the writ in accordance with Uniform
Rules of Louisiana Courts of Appeal, Rules 2- 18. 7 and 4- 9.

                                                 M
                                   TIMELINESS OF APPEAL

        Upon the lodging of this appeal and examination of the record, this court, ex

proprio mote, issued a rule to show cause order directing the parties to show cause

why this appeal should not be dismissed as untimely. Following briefing by the

parties, the rule to show cause was referred to the panel to which this appeal was

                                                                                                   1st
assigned.     Phillips_y. Exxon Chemical Louisiana, LLC, 2022- 1290 ( La. App.

Cir. 3/ 6/ 23) (   unpublished).

        Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 2087( A) provides that an appeal

may be taken within sixty days o£ (          1)   the expiration of the delay for applying for

a new trial or JNOV, if no application has been timely filed; or ( 2)                   the date of

mailing of notice of the court' s refusal to grant a timely application for new trial or

JNOV. An order of appeal is premature if granted before the court disposes of all

timely filed motions for new trial or judgment notwithstanding the verdict.                      The

order becomes effective upon the denial of such motions. La. C. C. P. art. 2087( D).

An appeal is taken by obtaining an order therefor, within the delay allowed, from

the court which rendered the judgment. La. C. C. P. art. 2121.

        Appellate courts do not acquire jurisdiction of an appeal that is not timely

perfected.    Bridges v. Baton Rouge General Medical Center, 2020- 0270 ( La. App.

1St Cir. 12/ 30/ 20), 317 So. 3d 662, 684, writ denied, 2021- 00144 ( La. 4/ 7/ 21), 313

So. 3d 985.        The appeal delays found in La. C. C. P. art. 2087 are not prescriptive

periods that are subject to interruption; these time limits are jurisdictional. 3 Everett

v. Baton Roue Student Housing, L.L.C., 2010- 0856 ( La. App.                   ist Cir. 5/ 6/ 11), 64

So. 3d 883, 886, writ denied, 2011- 1169 ( La. 9/ 16/ 11),                69 So. 3d 1149.         An

appellant' s failure to file a devolutive appeal timely is a jurisdictional defect, in

that neither the court of appeal nor any other court has the jurisdictional power and

        3Section ( E) of La. C. C. P. art. 2087, however, provides a specific exception for situations
in which a case is removed to a federal court. This exception is not applicable to the instant case.
See Everett v. Baton Rouge Student Housing. L.L.C., 2010- 0856 ( La. App. 1St Cir. 5/ 6/ 11), 64
So. 3d 883, 886 n.4, writ denied, 2011- 1169 ( La. 9116111), 69 So. 3d 1149.

                                                   5
authority to reverse, revise, or modify a final judgment after the time for filing a

devolutive appeal has elapsed. Everett, 64 So. 3d at 886.

         In the instant case, on March 17, 2022, this court granted Exxon' s writ

application,   reversed the trial court' s July    12,   2021   judgment,   and denied

plaintiffs' motion for new trial. See Phillips v. Exxon Chemical Louisiana, LLC,

2021- 1444 ( La. App.    1St Cir. 3117122), 2022 WL 807958 ( unpublished). Plaintiffs'

motion for appeal was not filed until July 5, 2022, over sixty days after this court

denied plaintiffs' motion for new trial.

         The jurisprudence clearly establishes that the filing of an application for

supervisory writs does not suspend the running of the delay for an appeal.            In

Guillory, the trial court signed a judgment denying plaintiffs' motion to proceed in

forma pauperis on August 28, 1979.          On November 7, 1979, plaintiffs filed a

motion to appeal.    On appeal, plaintiffs conceded that their motion for appeal was

not filed within sixty days of the expiration for the delays to file a motion for new

trial,   but nonetheless contended that their filing was timely because they had

applied for supervisory writs, which were denied by the appellate court on October

28, 1979, and which served to suspend the appeal delays.           The appellate court

therein noted that while La. C. C. P. art. 2201 provides that supervisory writs may

be applied for and granted in accordance with the constitution and rules of the

Supreme Court and other courts exercising supervisory jurisdiction, the " appellants

have cited no statute, court rule, or jurisprudence, and we have found none, which

holds that an application for supervisory writs suspends the running of the delay

for filing an appeal."    Guillory v. Hartford Insurance Company, 383 So. 2d 144,

145 ( La. App. 3' Cir. 1980). The court further held that plaintiffs' "   application for

supervisory writs had no effect on the delay for filing an appeal from the August

28, 1979 judgment [ and that plaintiffs']   failure to timely file the motion for appeal

 was] fatal to the appeal."   Guillor , 383 So. 2d at 145.

                                            n
        In Everett, plaintiff' s claims were dismissed with prejudice by a judgment

signed on April 24, 2009. Since plaintiff' s motion for new trial was untimely, the

delay for filing a devolutive appeal expired on July 10, 2009. Instead of filing an

appeal, plaintiff filed an application for supervisory review on September 15, 2009,

which was denied. Then, on March 31, 2010, plaintiff filed a motion to appeal the

April 24, 2009 judgment.      See Everett, 64 So. 3d at 884.     On review, this court

noted that when an application for writs is sought, further proceedings may be

stayed at the trial court' s discretion.    But the filing of, or granting of, a writ

application does not stay further proceedings unless the trial court or appellate

court expressly orders otherwise.     See Everett, 64 So. 3d at 885.    Where plaintiff

failed to seek a stay order, this court determined that his application for

supervisory writs and motion for appeal were untimely, explaining:

        An appeal is taken by obtaining an order therefor, within the delay
        allowed,   from the court which rendered the judgment. LSA-C. C. P.
        art. 2121. The appeal delays found in LSA-C. C. P. art. 2087 are not
        prescriptive periods that are subject to interruption; these time limits
        are jurisdictional. An appellant' s failure to file a devolutive appeal
        timely is a jurisdictional defect, in that neither the court of appeal nor
        any other court has the jurisdictional power and authority to reverse,
        revise, or modify a final judgment after the time for filing a devolutive
        appeal has elapsed.

Everett, 64 So. 3d at 886 ( citations and footnote omitted).

        Recently, in Barker v. Plattsmier, 2019- 1073 ( La. App.   P1 Cir. 5111/ 20), 304

So. 3d 78, 80, writ denied, 2020- 00961 ( La. 10/ 20/20), 303 So. 3d 293, plaintiff' s

claims against defendants were dismissed in a judgment signed on March 6, 2019.

On March 7, 2019, plaintiff filed an application for supervisory writs with this

court, which was subsequently denied on April 17, 2019.         Thereafter, on June 21,

2019, plaintiff filed a motion to appeal the March 6, 2019 judgment. On review,

this court determined that where notice of the judgment was mailed on March 11,

2019,   and the delay to file a motion for new trial expired on March 20,            2019,

plaintiffs appeal filed on June 21,    2019 was untimely on its face. In so holding,

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this court recognized that while plaintiff' s writ application and appeal concerned

the same issue, the filing of plaintiff' s writ application did not suspend the running

of the time delays to appeal the March 6, 2019 judgment. See Barker, 304 So. 3d

at 80 ( chin   Everett, 64 So. 3d at 885- 886 and Guillory, 383 So. 2d at 145).

       In Gregory Swafford Family Trust v. Graystar Mortgage, LLC, 2021- 0200

La. App. 4th Cir.     10/ 27/ 21), —   So. 3d _, _,      2021 WL 4987965, plaintiff filed

both an appeal and an application for supervisory writs of an adverse judgment.

The appellate court held that, because the writ application was still pending, the

underlying judgment was not final and thus, the motion for appeal was premature

and subject to dismissal. See Gregory,              So. 3d at —.    On review however, the

Louisiana Supreme Court, relying on Guillory,4 held that plaintiff' s filing of an

application for supervisory writs had no effect on the appeal delays and reinstated

the appeal.    Gregory Swafford Family Trust v. Graystar Mortgage, LLC, 2022-

00059 ( La. 3/ 15/ 22), 333 So. 3d 1238 (per curiam).

       Similarly, in Jones v. Jones, 393 So. 2d 281, 282 ( La. App.             Pt Cir. 1980),

the appellant contended that his application for supervisory writs suspended the

running of time for an appeal until it was denied by this court, and further claimed

he had thirty days from the denial of his writ application in which to appeal, but

did not cite any cases or statutes to support his argument.            This court recognized

the Third Circuit' s holding in Guillory, i.e., that the application for supervisory

writs had no effect on the delay for filing an appeal, agreed with the reasoning of

Guillory, and dismissed the appeal.          In doing so, this court noted, "[       a] ppellate

courts do not acquire jurisdiction of [an]          appeal which is not timely perfected."

Jones v. Jones, 393 So. 2d at 282.

       4The " appellants have cited no statute, court rule, or jurisprudence, and we have found
none, which holds that an application for supervisory writs suspends the running of the delay for
filing a appeal." Guillory, 383 So. 2d at 145

                                                8
        Moreover, in Mariani v. Delta Beverage Com an , 625 So. 2d 1088, 1089

La. App. 4"    Cir. 1993), the appellate court held that a devolutive appeal from the

original judgment on the merits,        filed over sixty days after the appellate court

reversed the trial court' s ruling granting a new trial, was untimely and subject to

dismissal.   In Mariani, plaintiff voluntarily dismissed his appeal after the trial court

granted his motion for new trial, after initially denying it two months prior.        The

appellate court granted a writ application by defendant finding the trial court erred

in vacating its original decision to deny the new trial and in granting a new trial

because it was divested of jurisdiction upon the signing of the order of appeal.

Plaintiff then filed a second motion and order for appeal. Marian, 625 So. 2d at

1089.   On appeal, the court determined that, pursuant to La. C. C. P. art. 2087, the

delay for filing the devolutive appeal expired sixty days after the denial of his

initial motion for new trial, and that the actions of the trial court in subsequently

granting the motion for new trial did not extend the time delays allowed for

appealing the original judgment on the merits because that action was vacated by

the appellate court on writs.       The court acknowledged that its ruling may seem

inequitable, but noted that plaintiff' s decision to dismiss his initial appeal was

voluntary and that the loss of jurisdiction to grant a new trial or hear an appeal was

an " absolute defect." Mariani, 625 So. 2d at 1089.

        In response to the show cause order in the instant case, plaintiffs, relying on

La. C. C. P. art. 2166( E),   argue their appeal is timely because this court' s March 17,

2022 ruling did not become final until five days after the clerk mailed the Supreme

Court' s denial of the application for certiorari. Plaintiffs' reliance on this article is

misplaced.    Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 2166 is found in Book III,

Title I of the Code of Civil Procedure, which governs " Appellate Procedure" and is

applicable to all appeals to the supreme court and the courts of appeal.          See La.

C.C. P. art. 2081.    This court' s March 17, 2022 ruling was a writ action, which

                                               6
granted an application for supervisory writs. Book III, Title II of the Code of Civil

Procedure governs "      Supervisory Procedure" and is applicable to supervisory writs,

which may be applied for and granted in accordance with the constitution and rules

of the Louisiana Supreme Court and other courts exercising appellate jurisdiction.

La. C. C. P.   art.   2201;   see also Louisiana Supreme Court Rules, Rule 10 and

Uniform Rules of Louisiana Courts of Appeal, Rule 4.                        Thus, to the extent

plaintiffs rely on La. C. C.P. art. 2166( E) and cases interpreting same, we find this

analysis inapplicable and unpersuasive.        Instead, we agree with the Mariani court

that the delay for an appeal runs from the denial of the motion for new trial,

whether that ruling is by the trial or appellate court, and like an application for

supervisory writ, an application for certiorari does not suspend the running of the

delay for an appeal.

       Nonetheless, although the filing of an application for supervisory writs does

not suspend the running of the delay for an appeal, in connection with the filing of

a writ application, the applicant may request a stay of further proceedings.                See

Uniform Rules of Louisiana Courts of Appeal, Rule 4- 4( A) (" When an application

for writs is sought, further proceedings may be stayed at the trial court' s discretion.

Any request for a stay of proceedings should be presented first to the trial court.

The filing of, or the granting of, a writ application does not stay further

proceedings unless the trial court or appellate court expressly orders otherwise.);

Louisiana Supreme Court Rules, Rule                10,   Section 2( e) ("    In all applications

requesting a stay order ....");     Everett, 64 So. 3d at 885. However, a review of the

record in this case does not show that a stay was requested in connection with

plaintiffs'   writ application.   Therefore, the delay for filing a devolutive appeal was

not suspended, interrupted, or stayed by the filing of plaintiffs' application for writ

of certiorari with the Louisiana Supreme Court. See Everett, 64 So. 3d at 886.

                                              10
       An appeal can be dismissed at any time for lack of jurisdiction of the

appellate court.     La. C. C. P. art. 2162. In this case, where the motion for appeal of

the May 5, 2021 judgment was not filed within sixty days of this court' s denial of

plaintiffs'   motion for new trial,      the instant appeal is untimely and must be

dismissed for lack ofjurisdiction.

                                     CONCLUSION

       For the above and foregoing reasons, the rule to show cause is granted and

this   appeal   is   dismissed.    All   costs    of   this   appeal   are   assessed   to    the

plaintiffs/ appellants,   Eunice Phillips and Mollie McCann,           individually,    and   on

behalf of Lawrence David Phillips, Jr.

       APPEAL DISMISSED.

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