Adams v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp.

921 So. 2d 972, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 2100, 2005 WL 2323200
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 23, 2005
Docket2004 CA 1296
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 921 So. 2d 972 (Adams v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas 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
Adams v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., 921 So. 2d 972, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 2100, 2005 WL 2323200 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

921 So.2d 972 (2005)

Quincy L. ADAMS, Jr., et al.
v.
OWENS-CORNING FIBERGLAS CORPORATION, et al.

No. 2004 CA 1296.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

September 23, 2005.
Rehearing Denied November 10, 2005.

*974 J. Burton LeBlanc, IV, Cameron R. Waddell, Brian F. Blackwell, Sandra A. Jelks, Chad Dudley, Jody E. Anderman, LeBlanc & Waddell, LLP, Baton Rouge, for Plaintiff/Appellant Thomas H. Jefferson.

Roland M. Vandenweghe, Jr., Mark J. Spansel, Edwin C. Laizer, Robert Markle, Adams and Reese LLP, New Orleans, for Defendant-Appellee Cooper/T. Smith Stevedoring Company, Inc.

Before: PARRO, KUHN, and WELCH, JJ.

PARRO, J.

Thomas H. Jefferson[1] appeals a judgment in favor of his former employer, Cooper/T. Smith Stevedoring Company, Inc. (Cooper), which sustained Cooper's peremptory exception raising the objection of no cause of action and dismissed Jefferson's *975 claims against it on the basis that his exclusive remedy is provided by the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA).[2] We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

This lawsuit, filed by several hundred plaintiffs, claims that, due to the fault of one or more of multiple defendants, each plaintiff suffered illness and disability as a direct result of exposure to asbestos. The only claim against Cooper was brought by one of its former employees, Jefferson, who was diagnosed with asbestosis in 1994 and colon cancer in 1999. He claims that while working for Cooper as a longshoreman on the Mississippi River in 1965 and at various times between 1970 through 1983, his job duties included loading and off-loading of ships in which the cargo often consisted of raw asbestos and/or asbestos-containing materials. Jefferson alleges that Cooper did not provide a safe working environment, equipment, training, or warnings concerning these materials, although it knew or should have known about the health hazards involved in handling them. As a result, he was exposed to asbestos dust and suffered damages.

Cooper filed an exception raising the objection of no cause of action based on the affirmative defense that all of Jefferson's claims against it are barred by the LHWCA, which is the exclusive remedy for longshoremen bringing claims against their employers for work-related injuries or illnesses. Jefferson opposed the motion, arguing that because his exposure to asbestos occurred before the scope of the LHWCA was extended in 1972 to cover land-based work, his tort claims were not barred by its provisions. After a hearing, the district court agreed with Cooper and dismissed Jefferson's claims against it. In the February 26, 2004 judgment, the court further stated that, pursuant to the provisions of LSA-C.C.P. art. 1915, the judgment was designated as final after an express determination that there was no just reason for delay. This appeal followed.

APPLICABLE LAW

No Cause of Action

The purpose of an exception raising the objection of no cause of action is to determine the sufficiency in law of the petition. The exception is triable on the face of the petition. For the purpose of determining the issues raised by the exception, the well-pleaded facts in the petition must be accepted as true. City of New Orleans v. Board of Comm'rs of Orleans Levee Dist., 93-0690 (La.7/5/94), 640 So.2d 237, 241; see LSA-C.C.P. arts. 927 and 931. Furthermore, the facts shown in any documents annexed to the petition must also be accepted as true. See LSA-C.C.P. art. 853; Cardinale v. Stanga, 01-1443 (La.App. 1st Cir.9/27/02), 835 So.2d 576, 578. The burden of demonstrating that no cause of action has been stated is on the party filing the exception. Home Distribution, Inc. v. Dollar Amusement, Inc., 98-1692 (La.App. 1st Cir.9/24/99), 754 So.2d 1057, 1060.

In ruling on an exception of no cause of action, the court must determine whether the law affords any relief to the claimant if he proves the factual allegations in the petition and annexed documents at trial. Home Distribution, 754 So.2d at 1060. No evidence may be introduced to support or controvert the objection that the petition fails to state a cause of action. LSA-C.C.P. art. 931. When a petition is read to determine whether a cause of action has been stated, it must be *976 interpreted, if possible, to maintain the cause of action instead of dismissing the petition. Any reasonable doubt concerning the sufficiency of the petition must be resolved in favor of finding that a cause of action has been stated. Brister v. GEICO Ins., 01-0179 (La.App. 1st Cir.3/28/02), 813 So.2d 614, 617. When an exception of no cause of action is based on an affirmative defense, the exception should not be sustained unless the allegations of the petition exclude every reasonable hypothesis other than the premise upon which the defense is based. West v. Ray, 210 La. 25, 33, 26 So.2d 221, 224 (1946); see also Owens v. Martin, 449 So.2d 448, 452 (La.1984).

The reviewing court conducts a de novo review of a trial court's ruling sustaining an exception of no cause of action, because the exception raises a question of law, and the lower court's decision is based only on the sufficiency of the petition. B & C Elec., Inc. v. East Baton Rouge Parish Sch. Bd., 02-1578 (La.App. 1st Cir.5/9/03), 849 So.2d 616. When the grounds of the objection pleaded by the peremptory exception may be removed by amendment of the petition, the judgment sustaining the exception shall order such amendment within the delay allowed by the court. If the grounds of the objection cannot be so removed, the action shall be dismissed. LSA-C.C.P. art. 934. This is true of any objection raised by the peremptory exception, including no cause of action. Brister, 813 So.2d at 616-17.

Accrual of the cause of action governs applicable law

Under Louisiana law, for a negligence cause of action to accrue, three elements are required: fault, causation, and damages. Owens, 449 So.2d at 450-51. In Cole v. Celotex Corp., 599 So.2d 1058 (La.1992), the Louisiana Supreme Court outlined a framework to assist in determining when a cause of action accrues in long-latency occupational disease cases. Following Cole, the courts ultimately adopted the significant exposure theory to establish when a tort cause of action accrues for physical harm arising from asbestos exposure. See Abadie v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 00-0344 (La. App. 5th Cir.3/28/01), 784 So.2d 46, 64-65, writs denied, 01-1533, 1534, 1543, 1544, 1629, 1853, and 1931 (La.12/14/01), 804 So.2d 642, 643, and 644, cert. denied sub nom. Territo v. Adams, 535 U.S. 1107, 122 S.Ct. 2318, 152 L.Ed.2d 1071 (2002); Austin v. Abney Mills, Inc., 01-1598 (La.9/4/02), 824 So.2d 1137, 1154. Under this theory, the date of disability is not the relevant date to decide the issue of when a tort cause of action accrued in a long-latency occupational disease case in which the individual suffers from the disease. Austin, 824 So.2d at 1143. To establish when the tort cause of action accrued in a long-latency occupational disease case, wherein the plaintiff suffers from disease, the plaintiff must present evidence that the exposures were significant and such exposures later resulted in the manifestation of damages. Austin, 824 So.2d at 1154.

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