Court Opinion

ID: 9961777
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-19 18:06:33.59611+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:18:52.926908
License: Public Domain

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

                              STATE OF LOUISIANA

                               COURT OF APPEAL

                                  FIRST CIRCUIT

                                   2023 CW 0985

                             RLC TRUCKING, L.L.C.

                                      VERSUS

       CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS, DINAR TRANSPORT, INC., AND
                      NORTHLAND INSURANCE COMPANY

                                           Judgment Rendered:      APR 19 2024

                                On Appeal from the
                          Nineteenth Judicial District Court
                      In and for the Parish of East Baton Rouge
                                 State of Louisiana
                                No. 721498, Sec. 25

                The Honorable Wilson E. Fields, Judge Presiding

Charlotte C. McDaniel                         Attorney for Plaintiff/Appellant
Baton Rouge, Louisiana                        RLC Trucking, L.L.C.

Barbara Malik                                 Attorneys for Defendants/Appellees
Metairie, Louisiana                           Christopher Williams, Dinar
                                              Transport, Inc., and Northland

                                              Insurance Company

           BEFORE: WOLFE, WELCH, AND STROMBERG, JJ.
STROMBERG, J.

      Plaintiff   appeals    a    judgment   sustaining   the   defendants'   peremptory

exception raising the objections of no cause of action and no right of action and

therefore dismissing, with prejudice, his claim for damages against the defendants

for increased insurance premiums.         For the reasons that follow, we convert this

appeal to an application for supervisory writs, grant the writ, reverse the judgment,

render judgment, and remand this matter.

                  FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

      On July 22, 2022, RLC Trucking, L.L.C. (" RLC"), filed suit seeking to

recover damages from Christopher Williams, Dinar Transport, Inc. (" Dinar"), and

Northland Insurance Company (" Northland") ( collectively " the defendants"). The

facts, as alleged by RLC' s petition, are as follows. On June 16, 2022, RLC owned

a truck being driven by Shun L. Wafer on Interstate              20 in Bienville Parish,

Louisiana.   The RLC truck was involved in a collision with another truck, which

was driven by Mr. Williams, owned by Dinar, and insured by Northland.            A third

truck, which was owned by Rich Transport and driven by Gilbert Diaz, was also

involved in the collision.       According to the petition, the accident was caused by

Mr. Williams' negligence " on behalf of Dinar."       RLC sought damages for loss of

use of the truck, an increase in insurance premiums, and a loss of safety rating

points, which it alleged would cause a loss of business in the future.

      The    defendants     responded    to RLC' s petition     by filing a peremptory

exception raising the objections of no cause of action and no right of action,

affirmative defenses, and an answer. As to their objections, the defendants alleged

that RLC had no cause of action against a tortfeasor for increased insurance

premiums and also had no right of action for the recovery of insurance premiums

based on a tortfeasor' s negligence,         relying on Nikolaus v. City of Baton

Rouge/ Parish of East Baton Rouge, 2009- 2090 ( La. App. 1 Cir. 6/ 11/ 10), 40

                                             2
So.3d 1244, 1248, Severn Place Associates v. American Building Services, Inc.,

05- 859 ( La. App. 5 Cir. 4111106), 930 So. 2d 125, 129, and Louisiana Swabbing

Service, Inc. v. Enterprise Products Co., 00- 1161 ( La. App. 3 Cir. 512101), 784

So. 2d 862, 866, writ denied, 2001- 1594 ( La. 9/ 14/ 01), 796 So. 2d 684.

         The district court held a hearing on the objections on February 6, 2023, at

which it granted the peremptory exception raising the objection of no cause of

action and ordered the parties to prepare a judgment.               The district court did not

expressly rule upon the peremptory exception raising the objection of no right of

action.   The defendants then filed a motion to designate the proposed judgment as

final pursuant to La. C. C. P.   art.   1915( B), after which the district court held a

hearing and granted the motion. Accordingly, on July 24, 2023, the district court

signed a judgment wherein it granted the defendants'                  peremptory objections

raising the exceptions of no cause of action and no right of action and dismissed

RLC' s claim for increased insurance premiums with prejudice.               The district court

designated the judgment as final pursuant to La. C. C. P. art. 1915( B).            From this

judgment, RLC has appealed.

                              LAW AND DISCUSSION

         Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 1915( B)( 1) authorizes the appeal

of a partial judgment,     partial summary judgment, or judgment sustaining an

exception in part, as to one or more but less than all of the claims, demands, issues,

or theories against a party when the judgment is designated as a final judgment by

the district court after an express determination that there is no just reason for

delay.     Before considering the merits of an appeal, this court must determine

whether the judgment is properly certified,               because    the   designation   is   not

determinative of this court' s jurisdiction.        Asay v.     Safeco Insurance Co.           of

Oregon, 2020- 0852 ( La.     App. 1     Cir. 4116/ 21),   323 So. 3d 395, 398.      Appellate

courts have the duty to examine subject matter jurisdiction sua sponte, even when

                                              3
the parties do not raise the issue.   Bayou Manchac Holdings, LLC v. Iberville

Parish Council, 2023- 0446 ( La. App. 1 Cir. 12/ 14/ 23),         So.3d .           If no

reasons for certification are given but some jurisdiction is apparent from the

record, the appellate court should make a de nova determination of whether the

certification is proper.   See R.J. Messinger, Inc. v. Rosenblum, 2004- 1664 ( La.

3/ 2/ 05), 894 So. 2d 1113, 1122.

      The July 24, 2023 judgment at issue in this case is a partial judgment

because the district court' s granting of the defendants'         peremptory exception

raising the objections of no cause of action and no right of action resulted in a

judgment that only dismissed RLC' s claim for damages for increased insurance

premiums arising out of the June 2022 collision. RLC' s other claims for damages

arising out of the collision remain. The judgment was certified as a final judgment

in accordance with La. C. C. P.     art.   1915( B),   without the district court giving

reasons for the designation.

      The district court erred in certifying the judgment granting the defendants'

peremptory exception raising the objections of no cause of action and no right of

action as final and immediately appealable.      This court has held that a partial grant

of a peremptory exception raising the objection of no cause of action is

impermissible and prohibited by law. See Everything on Wheels Subaru, Inc. v.

Subaru South, Inc., 616 So. 2d 1234, 1239 ( La. 1993); Expert Riser Solutions,

LLC v. Techcrane International, LLC, 2015- 0612 ( La. App. 1 Cir. 12/ 28/ 18),

270 So.3d 655, 663; State, by and through Caldwell v. Astra Zeneca AB, 2016-

1073 ( La. App.   1 Cir. 4/ 11/ 18), 249 So. 3d 38, 42 ( en Banc), writs denied, 2018-

00766, 2018- 0758 ( La. 9/ 21/ 18), 252 So.3d 899, 904. The purpose of this general

rule is to prevent a multiplicity of appeals that forces an appellate court to consider

the merits of the action in a piecemeal fashion.       Everything on Wheels Subaru,

Inc., 616 So. 2d at 1236. If there are two or more items of damages or theories of

                                             4
recovery that arise from the operative facts of a single transaction or occurrence, a

partial judgment on an exception of no cause of action should not be rendered to

dismiss one item of damages or theory of recovery. In such a case, there is truly

only one cause of action, and a judgment partially maintaining the exception is

inappropriate.   See Everything on Wheels Subaru, Inc., 616 So. 2d at 1239;

Astra Zeneca AB, 249 So. 3d at 42; Expert Riser Solutions, 270 So. 3d at 663.

The jurisprudence treats the partial exception of no right of action in the same

manner.
           Thus, where the plaintiff pleads multiple theories of recovery based on a

single occurrence or set of operative facts, the partial grant of an exception of no

right of action, which attacks only one theory of recovery and does not dismiss a

party, is invalid as an impermissible partial judgment.      See Dunbar v. Howard,

2021- 1171 ( La. 8/ 16122), 348 So. 3d 738, 744.

      Thus, the district court erred in certifying the judgment as final.    However,

this court can exercise its supervisory jurisdiction to convert an appeal to an

application for supervisory writs if the appeal would have been timely had it been

filed as a supervisory writ application. See Succession of Jaga, 2016- 1291 ( La.

App. 1 Cir. 9/ 15/ 17), 227 So. 3d 325, 328 n.2. See also Uniform Rules— Courts of

Appeal, Rules 4- 2 and 4- 3.   in this matter, the district court ruled on the exception

at the hearing and ordered the parties to prepare a judgment.          The defendants

prepared a judgment and also filed a motion to designate the judgment as final; the

district court heard the motion and granted it, again ordering the parties to prepare

a judgment.   The judgment was signed on July 24, 2023, and notice of judgment

was issued on July 26, 2023. RLC filed its motion and order for appeal on August

9, 2023.   Thus, because the motion and order for appeal was filed within thirty

days of the notice of judgment, the motion for appeal can be considered a timely

filed application for supervisory writs under Uniform Rules -- Courts of Appeal,

                                           5
Rules 4- 2 and 4- 3.    Accordingly, this court converts this matter to an application

for supervisory writs.

        In considering this matter under our supervisory jurisdiction, we initially

note that the defendants filed a peremptory exception raising the objections of no

cause of action and of no right of action.           The peremptory exception raising the

objection    of no cause    of action tests "    the legal sufficiency of the petition by

determining whether the law affords a remedy on the facts alleged in the pleading."

Everything on Wheels Subaru, Inc., 616 So. 2d at 1235; Labranche v. Landry,

2022- 0461 ( La. App. 1     Cir. 12115122), 357 So. 3d 395, 405. No evidence may be

introduced to support or controvert the objection that the petition fails to state a

cause of action.    La. C. C. P. art. 931.   Therefore, the court reviews the petition and

accepts well -pleaded allegations of fact as true. The issue is whether, on the face

of the petition, the plaintiff is legally entitled to the relief sought. Everything on

Wheels Subaru, Inc., 616 So. 2d at 1235.

        The peremptory exception raising the objection of no right of action tests

whether the plaintiff has any real and actual interest in judicially enforcing the

right asserted.   See La. C. C. P. arts. 681 and 927( A)(6).    To prevail on a peremptory

exception pleading the objection of no right of action, the defendant must show

that the plaintiff does not have an interest in the subject matter of the suit or legal

capacity to proceed with the suit.           Labranche, 357 So. 3d at 405.           Evidence

supporting or controverting an objection of no right of action is admissible for the

purpose of showing that the plaintiff does not possess the right he claims, or that

the right does not exist.' Labranche, 357 So. 3d at 405.

       In this case, the defendants through their exception contended that RLC had

no cause of action and no right of action against them to recover their increased

 The defendants did not submit any evidence on their exception raising the objection of no right
of action.

                                                no
insurance premiums due to Mr. Williams' and Dinar' s alleged negligence, relying

on jurisprudence. Because the district court granted a partial exception of no cause

of action and no right of action as to the claim for increased insurance premiums

and this court' s jurisprudence does not allow a judgment granting a partial

exception of no cause of action and no right of action, we must reverse the district

court' s judgment.'    See Everything on Wheels Subaru, Inc., 616 So. 2d at 1239.

Therefore, we grant the writ application and reverse the district court' s judgment

granting the peremptory exception raising the objection of no cause of action and

the objection of no right of action.

                                      CONCLUSION

       For the stated reasons, the appeal of the July 24, 2023 judgment is converted

to an application for supervisory writs, which is granted.              The July 24, 2023

judgment granting the peremptory exception raising the objections of no cause of

action and of no right of action filed by Christopher Williams, Dinar Transport,

Inc., and Northland Insurance Company is reversed, and we deny the peremptory

exception raising the objections of no cause of action and no right of action. We

remand the matter to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this

opinion.   Costs of this appeal are assessed to the defendants, Christopher Williams,

Dinar Transport, Inc., and Northland Insurance Company.

       APPEAL CONVERTED TO APPLICATION FOR SUPERVISORY
WRIT;      WRIT       GRANTED;          JUDGMENT           REVERSED;          JUDGMENT
RENDERED.

2 Our ruling does not prevent the defendants from re -urging their challenge to RLC' s right to
recover damages for increased insurance premiums in a manner other than a partial exception of
no cause of action, such as through a motion for summary judgment.

                                               7