Hodge v. Oertling
| Decision Date | 06 June 2018 |
| Docket Number | 17-1071 |
| Parties | DONALD HODGE, JR., AS ADMINISTRATOR OF ESTATE OF DONALD HODGE, SR. v. JARED OERTLING, ET AL. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
Court composed of Elizabeth A. Pickett, Billy H. Ezell, and Candyce G. Perret, Judges.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
Donald Carl Hodge, Jr.
Donald Hodge, Jr., as Administrator of Estate of Donald Hodge, Sr., and Rachel Hodge
Billy Edward Loftin, Jr.
Jeffrey A. Carrier
Loftin, Cain & LeBlanc
113 Dr. Michael DeBakey Drive
Jared Oertling
Vigilant Ins. Co.
This case involves the interpretation of a settlement and release agreement that was signed by Plaintiffs, Donald Hodge, Jr., individually and as administrator of Donald Hodge, Sr.'s estate, and Rachel Hodge ("Appellants"), in a separate suit arising out of a quarantine imposed by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry ("LDAF") on their late father's deer farm. Appellants filed the current suit against Jared Oertling, Ken Begnaud, Stacy Fontenot,1 and Vigilant Insurance Company ("Appellees") prior to the settlement agreement at issue, alleging that Appellees' conduct during the quarantine harmed them, and the Hodges sought damages. Appellees filed a motion for summary judgment asserting the settlement agreement between the Hodges and the LDAF released Appellants' claims against Appellees. The trial court agreed with Appellees and granted summary judgment, dismissing Appellants' claims with prejudice. Appellants now appeal. For the following reasons, we reverse and remand to the trial court for further proceedings.
Donald Hodge, Sr. (deceased) owned a whitetail deer farm ("Hodge Farm") in Calcasieu Parish. Sometime in October, it came to the LDAF's attention that the deer herd on the Hodge Farm was possibly infected with Chronic Wasting Disease likely transmitted by six does purchased from a Pennsylvania deer farm. Consequently, the LDAF issued a quarantine over the Hodge Farm on October 16, 2012. On or about the following day, Donald Hodge, Sr. died in a hunting accident. He never knew of the quarantine.
Following the imposition of the quarantine, the LDAF began making attempts to locate the six infected does. However, no deer at the Hodge Farm had tags indicating they were the six does being searched for.
Appellants filed suit against the LDAF on March 20, 2013, docket number 2013-001366-E, seeking an injunction to lift the quarantine so the farm could be sold. In that case, Appellants asserted that the LDAF had no reason to believe the six does ever reached Hodge Farm and that, instead, the deer were delivered to Jared Oertling's deer farm in Mississippi. Appellants asserted that Mr. Oertling admitted that the six does never arrived at the Hodge Farm. However, regardless of Mr. Oertling's statement, the LDAF still required all deer's tags on the Hodge Farm to be scanned, at Appellants' expense, to ensure none of the deer came from the Pennsylvania farm. Additionally, Appellants asserted that the ongoing quarantine required them to sustain the farm at their expense and prevented them from putting the farm up for sale. In the LDAF lawsuit, Appellants not only sought the injunction against the quarantine, but also sought to recover damages from the LDAF that they allegedly suffered in connection with the quarantine.
On October 15, 2013, Appellants filed the instant suit against Appellees, Jared Oertling, Ken Begnaud, and Stacy Fontenot, asserting that they granted Appellees permission to feed the deer and check on their well-being during the quarantine. Instead, Appellants assert that Appellees moved bucks to doe pins to promote breeding, gave false statements to the LDAF investigators regarding the location of the six does which impeded the investigation, and conspired to blame Donald Hodge, Sr. Therefore, Appellants sought damages for Appellees' actions, which Appellants assert resulted in loss of income, expenses of maintaining theHodge Farm while under quarantine, costs associated with testing the deer, the loss of the value of the deer, and the cost of additional deer being born.
On November 4, 2013, Appellants, the Hodges, signed a settlement agreement with the LDAF ("LDAF Settlement") which dismissed the Hodges' suit against the LDAF. Under the terms of the LDAF Settlement, the LDAF was permitted to depopulate the Hodge Farm in exchange for the LDAF's agreement to manage the efforts and assume the costs associated with the depopulation.
Appellants amended their petition in the instant case against Appellees, Jared Oertling, Ken Begnaud, and Stacy Fontenot, on December 17, 2014, adding additional general damages, asserting joint liability amongst Appellees, removing Stacy Fontenot as a defendant, and adding Vigilant Insurance Company as a defendant.
Thereafter, Appellees all moved for summary judgment and alleged that the broad language in the LDAF Settlement released all claims arising from or in any way related to the quarantine, including those Appellants asserted in the instant suit. Appellees allege that the current suit is related to the quarantine, that Appellants allowed the LDAF to depopulate the Hodge Farm and are now seeking damages from Appellees that they suffered as a result of the LDAF Settlement. In support of summary judgment, Appellees attached the petition in the LDAF suit, excerpts from Donald Hodge's deposition, the LDAF Settlement, and the First Supplemental and Amending Petition in the instant suit against Appellees.
In opposition, Appellants asserted that the plain language of the LDAF Settlement does not release claims against Appellees. Additionally, Appellants argued that emails exchanged between Appellants and the LDAF, and on which Appellants relied in entering the compromise, are instructive as to the intent of theparties to the LDAF Settlement. In support of their opposition, Appellants attached three exhibits. Exhibits A and B were the Affidavits of Donald Hodge and Rachel Hodge, attesting that both relied on email communications with the LDAF and that neither intended on releasing the instant claims. Exhibit C was email communications between Donald Hodge and Holden Hoggatt, attorney for the LDAF, representing that the purpose of the settlement agreement was to share the expenses associated with the depopulation of the deer herd and the release of the department and commissioner from liability resulting from the depopulation.
The trial court granted Appellees' motions for summary judgment, relying on Cressy v. Huffines Hyundai McKinney, 16-712 (La.App. 3 Cir. 2/22/17), 212 So.3d 683, writ denied, 17-510 (La. 5/19/17), 220 So.3d 751. The trial court determined that the broad language in the LDAF Settlement also compromised the Hodges' suit against Appellees. Appellants appeal the trial court's judgment, asserting two assignments of error: (1) that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment by finding that Appellants released Appellees by signing the LDAF Settlement, and (2) that the trial court erred in not considering affidavits and emails offered as evidence of the parties' intent when entering the settlement agreement. For the following reasons, we reverse the trial court's granting of Appellees' motions for summary judgment and remand this matter to the trial court for further proceedings.
Assignment of Error One:
On appeal, this Court reviews grants of summary judgment de novo, applying the same standards as the trial court when considering whether summary judgment is appropriate. Suire v. Oleum Operating Co., 17-117 (La.App. 3 Cir.11/2/17), 235 So.3d 1215, writs denied, 18-271, 18-279 (La. 4/6/18), --So.3d--. Louisiana Civil Code of Procedure Article 966(A)(3) provides that "a motion for summary judgment shall be granted if the motion, memorandum, and supporting documents show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact and that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." "A genuine issue of material fact is one as to which reasonable persons could disagree; if reasonable persons could reach only one conclusion, there is no need for trial on that issue and summary judgment is appropriate." Cressy, 212 So.3d at 686. Although seldom suitable for determinations based on subjective facts such as intent, "whether a plaintiff's claims against a certain defendant should be dismissed because of a release entered into by the plaintiff can be resolved in the context of a motion for summary judgment." Id.
The LDAF Settlement was a compromise entered into by Appellants and Mike Strain, in his capacity as the LDAF Commissioner.
A compromise is an agreement between two or more persons, who, for preventing or putting an end to a lawsuit, adjust their differences by mutual consent, in the manner which they agree on, and which every one of them prefers to the hope of gaining, balanced by the danger of losing.
Hudson v. Progressive Sec. Ins. Co., 43, 857, p. 6-7 (La.App. 2 Cir. 12/10/08), 1 So.3d 627, 631, writ denied, 09-235 (La. 3/27/09), 5 So.3d 148. Therefore, we must consider the code articles governing compromises. As the supreme court set forth in Brown Drillers, Inc., 630 So.2d 741, 748 (La. 1/14/94) (citations omitted):
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