Stelly v. Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 06 February 2019
• Docket Number: 18-293
• Parties: Joseph STELLY v. NATIONAL UNION FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, et al.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

266 So.3d 395

Joseph STELLY

v.NATIONAL UNION FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY, et al.

18-293

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

February 6, 2019

André F. Toce, The Toce Firm, APLC, 969 Coolidge Boulevard, Lafayette, LA 70503, Telephone: (337) 233-6818, COUNSEL FOR: Plaintiff/Appellant – Joseph Stelly Jr.

Christopher Shannon Hardy, Penny & Hardy, 600 Jefferson Street – Suite 601, Lafayette, LA 70502, Telephone: (337) 231-1955, COUNSEL FOR: Defendant/Appellee – Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Company.

Michael J. Remondet, Jr., Jeansonne & Remondet, P.O. Box 91530, Lafayette, LA 70509, Telephone: (337) 237-4370, COUNSEL FOR: Defendant/Appellee – Cecila Auto Glass, LLC.

Bryan J. Haydel, Porteous, Hainkel & Johnson, 343 Third Street – Suite 202, Baton Rouge, LA 70801-1309, Telephone: (225) 383-8900, COUNSEL FOR: Defendant/Appellee – Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Company.

Joshua K. Trahan, Juneau David, APLC, P.O. Drawer 51268, Lafayette, LA 70505-1268, Telephone: (337) 269-0052, COUNSEL FOR: Defendants/Appellees – National Union Fire Insurance Company, Lexington Insurance Company, Emanuel J. Benoit, Brent C. Singleton, & American Eagle Logistics, LLC.

Jerome H. Moroux, Broussard & David, LLC, P.O. Box 3524, Lafayette, LA 70502-3524, Telephone: (337) 233-2323, COUNSEL FOR: Plaintiff/Appellant – Joseph Stelly Jr.

Court composed of Ulysses Gene Thibodeaux, Chief Judge, Shannon J. Gremillion, and Candyce G. Perret, Judges.

THIBODEAUX, Chief Judge.

Plaintiff Joseph Stelly Jr. appeals the summary judgment dismissing his claims against Defendants National Union Fire Insurance Company, Lexington Insurance Company, Emanuel J. Benoit, Brent C. Singleton, and American Eagle Logistics, LLC (Defendants) on the issue of causation. Mr. Stelly was injured as a result of a rear-end collision between Mark Maras and Emanuel Benoit, after which Mr. Maras's vehicle spun into the lane in which Mr. Stelly was traveling as a guest passenger. The trial court found that the evidence presented of Defendants' negligence was insufficient to overcome the rebuttable presumption of Mr. Maras's liability as a following motorist and granted Defendants' joint Motion for Summary Judgment, thereby dismissing Mr. Stelly's personal injury claims against them.

On appeal, Mr. Stelly seeks reversal of the summary judgment and the opportunity to prove comparative fault on the part of Defendants, asserting that a disputed factual issue remains as to whether Mr. Maras's negligence was the sole cause of the accident. Mr. Stelly contends that, pursuant to the sudden emergency doctrine, the evidence presents factual questions regarding whether Defendants negligently created a hazard that a following motorist could not reasonably avoid. Mr. Stelly also alleges that Defendants' negligence in hiring, supervising, and retaining Mr. Benoit as a driver-employee contributed to the accident.

After conducting a de novo review of the evidence, we find that genuine issues of material fact preclude summary judgment. We reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Mr. Stelly has additionally filed a Motion to Strike the Original Brief of a later-added defendant, Cecilia Auto and Glass, alleging that it lacks standing to file an appellate brief in this matter because the judgment was not final as to Cecilia. For the reasons that follow, we disagree. Defendants also argue in their Original Appellee Brief that the Accident Reconstruction Report prepared by Mr. Stelly's expert, Michael Gillen, should be "stricken and disregarded" by this court because it is "unnecessary and unreliable" under La.Code Evid. art. 702. We decline to do so for the reasons set forth below.

I.ISSUES

We must decide:

(1) whether the trial court erred in granting Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment;

(2) whether this court may strike Cecilia Auto and Glass's appellate brief written in support of Defendants' grant of summary judgment; and

(3) whether this court may strike and disregard Plaintiff's expert report.

II.FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On July 20, 2012, Joseph Stelly Jr. was involved in an automobile collision near the juncture of U.S. Highway 90 and Captain Cade Road in Iberia Parish. Highway 90 is a four-lane highway providing two lanes each for eastbound and westbound traffic, divided by a grassy center median, with a posted speed limit of 55 miles per hour. Captain Cade Road runs southbound and perpendicular to Highway 90. Although the road is visible from the highway, there is no intersection providing motorists direct access to the road from the highway. The only means of legally accessing Captain Cade Road from Highway 90 East requires motorists to continue three-quarters of a mile east past this juncture, take the exit ramp off of Highway 90 onto L.A. Highway 88, and then backtrack onto a service road which eventually becomes Captain Cade Road. Located at this juncture is a convenience store, Food-N-Fun; one side of its parking lot borders the right-hand lane of Highway 90 East, while the other side borders Captain Cade Road.

The accident occurred at approximately 5:34 a.m. The sun had not yet risen, but the weather was clear and the roads were dry. Mr. Stelly was riding as a guest passenger in a Chevrolet Silverado hauling a boat and trailer driven by Joseph "Bobby" Belaire, traveling eastbound in the left-hand lane of Highway 90. In the right-hand lane, Emanuel J. Benoit was traveling eastbound in a Peterbilt eighteen-wheel tractor hauling a black, empty flatbed utility trailer owned by Brent C. Singleton, while in the course and scope of his employment with American Eagle Logistics, LLC. Approaching from the rear, a Hyundai Sonata driven by Mark Maras followed Mr. Benoit's tractor-trailer in the right-hand lane. On his way to pick up a shipment on Captain Cade Road, Mr. Benoit prepared to make a right turn off of the highway by slowing his vehicle and allegedly activating his right turning signal. Rather than properly using the exit ramp onto Highway 88, Mr. Benoit instead reduced his speed on the highway to an estimated speed of ten to twenty miles per hour, turned off the highway, and continued directly through the Food-N-Fun parking lot onto Captain Cade Road. For reasons unknown, Mr. Maras suddenly became aware of the turning vehicle ahead and attempted to avoid a collision by switching lanes ahead of Mr. Belaire's pickup truck in the left lane. In doing so, however, the front right corner of Mr. Maras's car clipped the left rear corner of the tractor-trailer, sending the car spinning clockwise into the path of Mr. Belaire's pickup truck traveling in the left lane, which thereafter struck the passenger side of Mr. Maras's car broadside. The impact caused a blowout of Mr. Belaire's right tire, which resulted in the pickup truck crossing the median and detaching from its trailer containing the fishing boat. Following an investigation of the accident, Mr. Benoit was issued a traffic citation for illegally cutting through a private lot in violation of La.R.S. 32:101(C), for which he pled guilty and paid the fine. Mr. Maras was also issued a traffic citation for careless operation in violation of La.R.S. 32:58.

Mr. Stelly initially filed suit seeking damages against Mr. Benoit, American Eagle Logistics, LLC, National Union Fire Insurance Company, Lexington Insurance Company, and Brent C. Singleton (hereinafter, "Defendants"). In his petition, Mr. Stelly alleged that "Maras was unable to timely see the illegally-equipped tractor-trailer and did not have time to react to Mr. Benoit's illegal turn to cut-through [sic] the Food-N-Fun parking lot." He also alleged to have sustained severe and disabling injuries as a result of the accident that required him to undergo several surgeries.

Following preliminary discovery, Defendants filed a joint Motion for Summary Judgment before the trial court. In support of their motion, Defendants argued that the evidence presented could not establish Defendants' actions as a cause-in-fact of the accident, and thus, Mr. Maras was solely liable because Mr. Stelly could not carry his burden in rebutting the presumption of Mr. Maras's fault as a following motorist. After the motion was filed, but before it was heard, Mr. Stelly filed a Fourth Amended Petition naming additional defendants, Cecilia Auto and Glass ("Cecilia") and Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Company. Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment was not amended to include either additional defendant.

The trial court granted the Motion for Summary Judgment and dismissed Mr. Stelly's personal injury claims against Defendants. It concluded that Mr. Stelly failed to present evidence sufficient to overcome the presumption of Mr. Maras's sole liability for the accident.

In challenging this presumption on appeal, Mr. Stelly contends that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment where several genuine issues of material fact remain as to whether Mr. Maras should be held solely liable for the accident. Invoking the sudden emergency doctrine, he specifically asserts that evidence of Mr. Benoit's receipt of a traffic citation for illegally cutting through a private lot and Defendants' failure to maintain required conspicuity devices on the tractor-trailer, when taken together, present factual questions regarding whether Defendants could have negligently created a hazard that Mr. Maras could not reasonably avoid.

III.SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Standard of Review

An appellate court reviews summary judgments de novo, applying the same criteria that govern the trial court's determination of whether summary judgment is appropriate. Schroeder v. Bd. of Supervisors of La. State Univ. , 591 So.2d 342 (La. 1991).

The mover bears the burden of proving that he is entitled to summary judgment. La.Code Civ.P. art. 966(D)(1). However, if the mover will not bear the burden of proof at trial on the subject matter of the motion, he need only...