Abbott Tours, Inc. v. Marriott Corp.

567 So. 2d 170, 1990 La. App. LEXIS 2031, 1990 WL 125794
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 31, 1990
DocketNo. 89-CA-2037
StatusPublished

This text of 567 So. 2d 170 (Abbott Tours, Inc. v. Marriott Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Abbott Tours, Inc. v. Marriott Corp., 567 So. 2d 170, 1990 La. App. LEXIS 2031, 1990 WL 125794 (La. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

ARMSTRONG, Judge.

Plaintiff, Abbott Tours, Inc. (ATI), appeals the trial court’s imposition of sanctions disallowing it to introduce evidence of economic loss and expert testimony connected therewith. Plaintiff, John W. Abbott, appeals the trial court’s granting of a partial summary judgment dismissing his tort claim against defendant, Marriott Corporation.

In 1979 and 1983 ATI contracted with Marriott to provide hotel accommodations for a specified number of ATI’s clients during the 1979 and 1983 Sugar Bowl weekends. On each occasion Marriott did not have all of the necessary rooms available for ATI’s customers. ATI, the corporate entity with which Marriott contracted and John Abbott, individually, as ATI’s chief officer, delayed until November, 1983 before filing suit against Marriott. In the petition, ATI claimed that Marriott’s failure to provide enough hotel rooms in 1979 and 1983 caused ATI to suffer lost profits and damage to ATI’s business reputation. John Abbott, individually, claimed that after each of the 1979 and 1983 incidents, he received complaints and abuse from ATI’s customers which led to his suffering emotional and physical distress.

On March 20, 1985, Marriott served a notice of deposition and request for production of documents on ATI and Abbott. In the deposition notice, Marriott requested that ATI designate an appropriate officer to testify on the issues raised in the petition and specifically requested that ATI produce all documents which supported ATI’s claims for lost income and business reputation. A similar request was sent to Abbott individually. Mr. Abbott was de[172]*172posed on April 26, 1985. At that time, certain documents were produced but Abbott provided no documentation which analyzed or calculated the specific damage to reputation or profits.

Thereafter on October 17, 1985, Marriott, in an effort to have the majority of the claims dismissed, filed three exceptions. Marriott urged that all tort claims arising from the 1979 activities were prescribed. Marriott also urged dismissal of Abbott’s individual claims for failure to state a cause of action and sought dismissal of the alleged reputation damage contending that it was no more than an element of proof for lost profits.

On May 23, 1986, the trial court ruled that the tort claims for 1979 were prescribed; that ATI’s claim for damage to business reputation was subsumed within the claim for lost profits such that no separate claim for damage to business reputation could be sustained apart from the claim for lost profits; and that Abbott in his individual capacity was allowed to amend the petition to allege that the damages suffered by him were foreseeable and, thereby, at least state a cause of action. Abbott amended the petition in keeping with the court’s instruction.

Thereafter, on May 20, 1987, the trial court referred the case to a Civil District Court Commissioner for pre-trial administration and trial. On August 5, 1987, Marriott propounded six additional requests for production of documents on ATI. On September 28, 1987, ATI answered the request for production of documents by stating that the documents “have not been segregated from Abbott’s general accounting records at this time; when they are assembled, they will be forwarded to Marriott.” ATI further represented that documents to support its claims have not been assembled. As a result, Marriott filed a motion to compel production of documents which was set for December 14, 1987. On the very date of the hearing, ATI supplied additional answers which were not adequately responsive to Marriott’s requests.

Based upon the foregoing, the Commissioner, as reflected on the second page of the “Report of the Commissioner of Preliminary Hearing”, ordered the requested documents be furnished by January 15, 1988. On that date, Abbott and ATI did supplement the discovery but did not provide all documents supporting their claims against Marriott. In yet another attempt to obtain Abbott’s and ATI’s documentary support for their claim, Marriott renoticed Abbott’s deposition and requested production of supporting documents at that time.

The deposition took place on February 23, 1988. In an effort to protect Marriott’s position and to insure adequate production of documents, a subpoena was served on Abbott requiring the document production at the deposition. Despite these efforts, Abbott failed to produce the requested documents. In fact, Abbott testified that he had not even written some of the computer programs necessary to generate the documents which he intended to use to support the lost profit claim. Abbott also testified that, after he wrote the programs he would then have them reviewed by an economist, Kenneth Boudreaux, expecting Mr. Bou-dreaux to testify on those documents. As a result of these occurrences, Marriott moved for an order excluding the use of the computer information and/or excluding the testimony of Kenneth Boudreaux.

On February 25, 1988, Marriott filed a motion for partial summary judgment seeking dismissal of Abbott’s individual claim for alleged humiliation, emotional distress and mental anguish. While Abbott had amended his petition to state a cause of action, the depositions, pleadings and other evidence of record reflected that there was no genuine issue of material fact and that Marriott was entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

After oral argument on March 4, 1988, the Commissioner ruled in Marriott’s favor on both motions. The Commissioner filed a formal report recommending that Abbott’s individual claim be dismissed and prohibiting ATI from introducing in evidence documents which support its lost profits claim because ATI failed to comply with the court’s order of December 14, 1987 requiring production of all documents by January [173]*17315,1988. Thereafter, ATI and Abbott filed exceptions to the Commissioner’s report and Marriott filed an opposition thereto. The trial court rendered judgment on August 3,1989, dismissing ATI’s and Abbott’s exceptions to the Commissioner’s recommended judgment. ATI appeals the imposition of discovery sanctions against it and Abbott appeals the dismissal of his claim for tort damages.

DISCOVERY SANCTIONS

Article 1471 of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure provides the trial court with authority to impose sanctions upon a party for its failure to comply with orders compelling discovery. That article specifically authorizes an order prohibiting the disobedient party from introducing designated matters into evidence. La.C.C.P. art. 1471(2). A trial court’s imposition of sanctions for failure to comply with a discovery order and its choice of sanctions will not be reversed on appeal absent a clear showing that there was an abuse of the court’s broad discretion. Fulgham v. An Unknown Police Officer, 480 So.2d 417, 418 (La.App. 4th Cir.1985); Llorence v. Natchitoches Parish School Board, 529 So.2d 479 (La.App. 3d Cir.1988), writ denied, 532 So.2d 176 (La.1988).

ATI was to provide all documents which ATI and Abbott would rely upon at trial to support each claim against Marriott by January 15, 1988. Abbott and ATI argue that the trial court improperly imposed sanctions because there was no order directing ATI to produce expert reports by any fixed date and because such report did not exist on January 15, 1988. The fact that neither the trial court nor the Commissioner imposed discovery or witness list cut-off dates does not control this matter. What is relevant is that Marriott continuously sought discovery and a court order existed directing ATI to produce all

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Buddy's Tastee No. 1, Inc. v. Tastee Donuts, Inc.
483 So. 2d 1321 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1986)
Albritton v. McDonald
363 So. 2d 925 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1979)
Versai Management, Inc. v. Monticello Forest Products Corp.
479 So. 2d 477 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1985)
Llorence v. Natchitoches Parish School Bd.
529 So. 2d 479 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1988)
Fulgham v. an Unknown Police Officer
480 So. 2d 417 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1985)
Morein v. GJ Deville Lumber Co.
215 So. 2d 208 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1968)
Hoffman v. All Star Insurance Corp.
288 So. 2d 388 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1974)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
567 So. 2d 170, 1990 La. App. LEXIS 2031, 1990 WL 125794, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/abbott-tours-inc-v-marriott-corp-lactapp-1990.