Ex parte Pratt
Decision Date | 14 September 2001 |
Citation | 815 So.2d 532 |
Parties | Ex parte Grady L. PRATT et al. (Re Grady L. Pratt et al. v. WestPoint Stevens, Inc.) |
Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
J. Gusty Yearout and Deborah S. Braden of Yearout, Myers & Traylor, P.C., Birmingham; and M. Clay Ragsdale IV and M. Stan Herring of Law Offices of M. Clay Ragsdale, Birmingham, for petitioners.
John M. Johnson and W. Larkin Radney IV of Lightfoot, Franklin & White, L.L.C., Birmingham, for respondent.
Grady L. Pratt and others, the plaintiffs in an action filed in the Macon Circuit Court, petition for a writ of mandamus directing Judge Howard F. Bryan to vacate his order transferring the action to the Lee Circuit Court. We grant the petition and issue the writ.
The plaintiffs, Grady L. Pratt, Al Redding, Joyce Webster Dennis, Louis B. Pratt, H.L. Adkins, and W.G. Newman (hereinafter collectively referred to as "Pratt"), own real property located in Tallapoosa County and Macon County; that property is bordered by Saugahatchee Creek and is located downstream from a textile plant operated by WestPoint Stevens. All of the plaintiffs, except Dennis, are residents of Macon County. Dennis resides in Tallapoosa County. In August 1999, Pratt filed an action in the Macon Circuit Court, alleging trespass, nuisance, negligence and wantonness, and strict liability against WestPoint Stevens. The complaint alleges that WestPoint Stevens releases dyes and chemicals into Saugahatchee Creek and that those dyes and chemicals have caused harm to the plaintiffs' real property located on Saugahatchee Creek.
In November 1999, WestPoint Stevens moved to transfer the case to the Lee Circuit Court on the ground that venue in Macon County was not proper as to all the plaintiffs. The Macon Circuit Court granted WestPoint Stevens's motion.
The circuit court's order transferring the case to Lee County stated, in pertinent part:
(Pratt's petition, Exhibit E.) Pratt filed a motion to reconsider the order transferring the case to Lee County; the circuit court denied that motion. Shortly thereafter, Pratt petitioned this Court for a writ of mandamus directing the Macon Circuit Court to vacate its order transferring the case to Lee County.
Ex parte Alabama Great Southern R.R. & Norfolk Southern Ry., 788 So.2d 886, 888 (Ala.2000).
The question of proper venue for an action is determined at the commencement of the action. Ex parte Mitchell, 690 So.2d 356 (Ala.1997); see also Rule 82(d)(1), Ala.R.Civ.P.
Section 6-3-7, Ala.Code 1975,1 governs venue for actions against corporate defendants. That section provides:
Principles of statutory construction instruct this Court to interpret the plain language of a statute to mean exactly what it says and to engage in judicial construction only if the language in the statute is ambiguous. Ex parte Alabama Great Southern R.R., supra, 788 So.2d at 889, quoting Blue Cross & Blue Shield v. Nielsen, 714 So.2d 293, 296 (Ala.1998).
Pratt contends that venue for the action was proper in Macon County pursuant to § 6-3-7(a)(3), Ala.Code 1975, because all but one of the named plaintiffs reside in Macon County and because the plaintiffs have met the criteria set out in § 6-3-7(c), Ala.Code 1975.
WestPoint Stevens contends that § 6-3-7, Ala.Code 1975, requires that venue be proper as to all the named plaintiffs.2 WestPoint Stevens reasons that § 6-3-7(c) mandates that if venue in a particular county is not proper as to all plaintiffs, then the case must be transferred to a county where venue is proper as to all plaintiffs. WestPoint Stevens further argues that the criteria provided in § 6-3-7(c) apply only in a situation where no venue is proper as to all of the named plaintiffs.
To adopt WestPoint Stevens's interpretation of § 6-3-7(c), this Court would have to disregard the plain language of the statute and treat a portion of subsection (c) as a nullity. The statute clearly states that "venue must be proper as to each and every named plaintiff joined in the action, unless the plaintiffs establish" the stated criteria. The dependent clause beginning with the word "unless" modifies the independent clause, which states that "venue must be proper as to each and very named plaintiff joined in the action." Consequently, if venue in a particular county is not proper for all of the plaintiffs, but the plaintiffs establish the criteria listed in § 6-3-7(c), then venue becomes proper in that county. If, however, the plaintiffs cannot establish the criteria, then the claims of the plaintiffs as to whom venue is improper shall be severed and the case shall be transferred to a court where venue is proper.
In this case, Pratt filed the action in Macon County. All of the plaintiffs except one reside in Macon County. Pratt presented evidence, through affidavits, to establish the appropriateness of venue in Macon County with regard to the plaintiff residing in Tallapoosa County. Pratt has satisfied the criteria stated in § 6-3-7(c), Ala.Code 1975. Furthermore, the circuit court made a finding in its...
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