Jones v. Dynamic Indus., Inc.
| Citation | 322 So.3d 313 |
| Decision Date | 26 May 2021 |
| Docket Number | 20-528 |
| Parties | Willis JONES and Shadonne Jones v. DYNAMIC INDUSTRIES, INC. and BP America Production Co. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana (US) |
322 So.3d 313
Willis JONES and Shadonne Jones
v.
DYNAMIC INDUSTRIES, INC. and BP America Production Co.
20-528
Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.
May 26, 2021
DaShawn P. Hayes, The Hayes Law Firm PLC, 1100 Poydras Street, Ste. 1530, New Orleans, Louisiana 70163, (504) 799-0374, COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT: SHADONNE JONES, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS THE ADMINISTRATRIX OF THE SUCCESSION OF WILLIS JONES
Kelley Sevin, Elton F. Duncan, III, Duncan & Sevin LLC, 400 Poydras Street, Ste. 1200, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130, (504) 524-5566, COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE: CHEVRON U.S.A., INC.
Kathleen P. Rice, Patrick J. McShane, Danica B. Denny, Frilot, LLC, 3700 Energy Centre, Ste. 3700, 1100 Poydras Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70163, (504) 599-8000, COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE: DYNAMIC INDUSTRIES, INC.
Court composed of John D. Saunders, Candyce G. Perret, and Jonathan W. Perry, Judges.
PERRY, Judge.
Shadonne Jones ("Mrs. Jones"), individually and as the administratrix of the Succession of Willis J. Jones, Jr. ("Mr. Jones"), appeals the trial court judgment which granted a peremptory exception of no right of action, dismissing her survival action brought as the administratrix of the succession of Mr. Jones. Additionally, Mrs. Jones, in both capacities, appeals the judgment of the trial court which granted a peremptory exception of prescription, dismissing her wrongful death claim, and further granted a peremptory exception of no cause of action, dismissing her claims for present and future damages as well as funeral expenses. We affirm and remand.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On November 17, 2008, Willis J. Jones, Jr. ("Mr. Jones") allegedly suffered a stroke and other medical ailments while working offshore as a rigger for Dynamic Industries, Inc. ("Dynamic Industries"). Thereafter, on November 16, 2009, Mr. Jones filed a petition for damages against Dynamic Industries and BP America Production Company ("BP") in Iberia Parish, contending that Dynamic Industries and BP failed to provide timely medical treatment to him. Mrs. Jones joined in the lawsuit as a party plaintiff, asserting a claim for loss of consortium.
Subsequently, on November 27, 2012, Mr. Jones and Mrs. Jones filed an amending petition for damages. At that time, they substituted Chevron U.S.A., Inc. ("Chevron") as a defendant in place of BP. On July 14, 2017, Mr. Jones died allegedly from complications from the stroke he suffered in 2008, and on December 17, 2018, Mrs. Jones was appointed administratrix of his succession.
On April 12, 2019, Mrs. Jones1 supplemented the original petition of 2009. In that pleading, Mrs. Jones: (1) alleged that Mr. Jones died on July 14, 2017, from
complications of the stroke he purportedly suffered while working for Dynamic Industries and Chevron ("the Defendants"); (2) alleged that on December 17, 2018, she was appointed administratrix of Mr. Jones's succession; (3) individually brought a wrongful death claim against the Defendants; and (4) individually and as administratrix of Mr. Jones's succession brought a survival action against the Defendants.
On June 3, 2019, the Defendants filed peremptory exceptions of prescription, no right of action, and no cause of action. Through those peremptory exceptions, the Defendants asserted that: (a) the wrongful death claim brought by Mrs. Jones, individually, had prescribed; (b) Mrs. Jones, in her capacity as representative of Mr. Jones's succession, had no right of action to seek survival benefits; (c) Mrs. Jones failed to state a cause of action for the damages of present and future pain and suffering, mental anguish, medical expenses, and loss of wages, as these are not recoverable in a survival action; and (d) the claim for funeral expenses, an element of wrongful death damages, fails to state a cause of action because Mrs. Jones's wrongful death claim is prescribed.
After taking the matter under advisement, the trial court granted each of the Defendants’ peremptory exceptions. In its judgment, the trial court found Mrs. Jones, acting as administratrix of Mr. Jones's succession, did not have a right of action to pursue the survival claim. It then determined that Mrs. Jones's wrongful death claim was prescribed. And, finally, the trial court concluded that Mrs. Jones had no cause of action for present and future damages,2 and she had no cause of action for funeral expenses.3
This appeal followed. In her one assignment of error, Mrs. Jones states:
The [trial court] erroneously sustained the Defendants’ Peremptory Exception of Prescription, No Cause of Action, and No Right of Action when the amended petition included a claim of wrongful death and survival action that related back to the original petition for damages, the death of [Mr. Jones] arose from the same conduct and occurrence as set forth in the original and first amended petition for damages, Ms. Jones is the administrator of the estate of Willis Jones and funeral expenses are an element of damages for wrongful death claims.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
Appellate courts review the peremptory exception of prescription pursuant to the manifest error standard of review if evidence, either supporting or contradicting, is presented at the hearing on the exception. In re Succ. of Cole , 12-802 (La.App. 3 Cir. 12/26/12), 108 So.3d 240, writ denied , 13-257 (La. 3/15/13), 109 So.3d 384. If no evidence is presented, as is the case now before us, appellate courts decide whether the finding of the trial court is legally correct or incorrect. Id. The peremptory exceptions of no cause of action and no right of action raise a question of law; thus, a trial court's judgment relating thereto is reviewed de novo by the appellate court. Castille v. La. Med. Mut. Ins. Co. , 14-519 (La.App. 3 Cir. 11/5/14), 150 So.3d 614 ;
Bennett v. Porter, 10-1088 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/9/11), 58 So.3d 663.
DISCUSSION
Mrs. Jones argues each of the trial court's peremptory exception rulings individually. Accordingly, we will discuss them in the same manner.
Wrongful Death and Survival Damages—An Overview
At the heart of the questions before us are La.Civ.Code arts. 2315.1 (survival action) and 2315.2 (wrongful death action). Originally, La.Civ.Code art. 2315 was the source provision for a general damage claim brought before the death of the direct victim, the survival action, and wrongful death action, and it contained a single one-year prescriptive period. In Watkins v. Exxon Mobil Corp. , 13-1545 (La. 5/7/14), 145 So.3d 237, the court provides a chronological history of La.Civ.Code art. 2315, continuing through 1986 La. Acts No. 211 which separated the survival action and the wrongful death action from the pre-death damages articulated in Article 2315. At that time, 1986 La. Acts No. 211 "severed the provisions dealing with the survival action and the wrongful death action from Article 2315 and transferred the language into new articles: La. Civ.Code arts. 2315.3 (the survival action) and 2315.4 (the wrongful death action)." Watkins , 145 So.3d at 242. Under the statutory revision authority of the Louisiana State Law Institute, Article 2315.3 was redesignated as Article 2315.1 and, at that same time, 2315.4 was redesignated as Article 2315.2. Id.
Louisiana Civil Code Article 2315.1, the survival action, states, in pertinent part:
A. If a person who has been injured by an offense or quasi offense dies, the right to recover all damages for injury to that person, his property or otherwise, caused by the offense or quasi offense, shall survive for a period of one year from the death of the deceased in favor of:
(1) The surviving spouse and child or children of the deceased, or either the spouse or the child or children.
(2) The surviving father and mother of the deceased, or either of them if he left no spouse or child surviving.
(3) The surviving brothers and sisters of the deceased, or any of them, if he left no spouse, child, or parent surviving.
(4) The surviving grandfathers and grandmothers of the deceased, or any of them, if he left no spouse, child, parent, or sibling surviving.
B. In addition, the right to recover all damages for injury to the deceased, his property or otherwise, caused by the offense or quasi offense, may be urged by the deceased's succession representative in the absence of any class of beneficiary set out in Paragraph A.
C. The right of action granted under this Article is heritable, but the inheritance of it neither interrupts nor prolongs the prescriptive period defined in this Article.
Louisiana Civil Code Article 2315.2, the wrongful death action, provides, in pertinent part:
A. If a person dies due to the fault of another, suit may be brought by the following persons to recover damages which they sustained as a result of the death:
(1) The surviving spouse and child or children of the deceased, or either the spouse or the child or children.
(2) The surviving father and mother of the deceased, or either of them if he left no spouse or child surviving.
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