Aetna Ins. Co. v. Naquin

488 So. 2d 950
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedMay 20, 1986
Docket85-C-2322
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 488 So. 2d 950 (Aetna Ins. Co. v. Naquin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Aetna Ins. Co. v. Naquin, 488 So. 2d 950 (La. 1986).

Opinion

488 So.2d 950 (1986)

AETNA INSURANCE COMPANY
v.
Robert NAQUIN, et al.
Mrs. Philip FICARRA, et al.
v.
Robert NAQUIN, et al.

No. 85-C-2322.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

May 20, 1986.

Richard A. Tonry, Chalmette, for applicant.

Wade D. Rankin, New Orleans, Schafer & Schafer, New Orleans, for respondent.

*951 BLANCHE, Justice.

These consolidated cases arise out of an oral contract entered into on or about August 10, 1978, between Denis Ficarra and Robert Naquin d/b/a Bob's Roofing and Sheet Metal. Mr. Naquin was hired to perform repairs on the roof of a "four-plex" apartment building owned by Denis Ficarra and Mrs. Philip Ficarra. Due to Naquin's failure to complete the job in a timely fashion, or to take precautions to prevent damage during the repairs, the roof was unable to protect the building from a severe thunderstorm on August 20, 1978. As a result thereof, substantial damage was caused to the building itself and all of the apartments in the building as well as the personal property of the occupants. Ficarra chose not to institute suit for his own damages because Naquin assured him that restitution would be made. However, it appeared that Naquin was not going to honor the individual claims of the tenants. Accordingly, Mr. Ficarra contacted his insurance carrier, Aetna Insurance Company, which paid a total of $7,224.73 in settlement of the tenants' claims.

Subsequently, Aetna filed suit against Robert Naquin d/b/a Bob's Roofing and Sheet Metal seeking reimbursement for the funds paid to the tenants on behalf of the Ficarras. A second action was filed against the defendant by Denis Ficarra and Mrs. Philip Ficarra to recover the damages that they personally sustained. The defendant responded by filing exceptions to venue in both lawsuits. The exceptions were overruled by the trial court and no interlocutory appeal was taken.[1] After the denial of the exception, the defendant answered the lawsuits with general denials.

The two lawsuits were consolidated for trial. At the conclusion of a bench trial on the merits, the court found that the defendant had "breached his contractual duty to perform as a prudent contractor under all the circumstances." Judgment was rendered in favor of Denis Ficarra and Mrs. Philip Ficarra in the amount of $4,820.00 plus interest from the date of judgment. Judgment was also granted in favor of Aetna in the amount of $7,224.73 plus interest from the date of judgment.

The defendant appealed to the fifth circuit alleging two assignments of error. The court of appeal, 478 So.2d 1352, affirmed the trial court's findings. Naquin did not raise the issues of liability and quantum in the fifth circuit so those issues are now considered final. The applicant has raised the same two assignments in this Court as he did below and we granted writs to review the rulings of the lower courts.

I.

In his first assignment the applicant contends that the court of appeal erred in affirming the trial court's ruling on applicant's exception to venue. The petition was filed in the Parish of Jefferson alleging two theories of recovery, one in contract and one in tort. The defendant filed an exception of improper venue in which he contended that venue was improper because defendant resided in St. Tammany Parish and conducted business in St. Bernard Parish. Therefore, defendant argued, venue under the general rule of LSA-C. C.P. art. 42 would only be proper in one of those two parishes. The trial court overruled the exception reasoning that the negligent performance of a contract can give rise to either a contract or tort action. Venue is appropriate in either the parish where the contract action or the tort action could be brought providing the facts supporting the claims are interrelated. Hebert v. Myers, 449 So.2d 185 (La.App. 3rd Cir. 1984). The Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, articles 71-85, provides exceptions to the general rule provided by LSA-C.C.P. art. 42. LSA-C.C.P. art. 74 allows an action *952 for an offense or quasi-offense to be brought where the wrongful conduct occurred, or in the parish where the damages were sustained. The trial court's ruling that Jefferson Parish was a proper venue is well founded.

The applicant argues, however, that this rule cannot be applied in the instant case because the tort claim had prescribed. This issue has not been timely raised. At no time during the pendency of the exception was this argument raised. A plea of prescription was an integral part of defendant's exception of improper venue, none the less, it was not raised in connection with the exception to venue. The first time prescription was mentioned was on a motion for directed verdict after the plaintiff had presented his case. Even at that time, prescription was not raised in the context of venue. Not until after the entire trial had been concluded did the defendant make written mention of prescription. A court may not notice prescription on its own. It must be pleaded. LSA-C.C. art. 3452. Exceptions "shall state with particularity the objections urged and the grounds thereof." LSA-C.C.P. art. 924. On the grounds urged before it, the trial court made the correct decision.

At that point we are of the opinion that it was too late for applicant to have complained of improper venue on the grounds that the tort claim prescribed. The erroneous overruling of an exception of improper venue should be appealed after the interlocutory judgment as that is the appropriate means of relief. Herlitz Construction Co. v. Hotel Investors, Inc., 396 So.2d 878 (La. 1981) (see, fn. 1, supra.) The rules of venue are designed to protect defendants from being unduly burdened by litigating a matter away from their domiciles. Petitioner cannot seriously urge that retrying the matter near home would be less of a burden having already tried the case elsewhere. Neither should the defendant expect a second opportunity to relitigate the case because of his failure to timely raise the issue. This assignment has no merit.

II.

By the second assignment of error the applicant argues that Aetna was not entitled to be legally subrogated to its insureds' claims. In connection with this assignment the applicant raises two arguments. First the argument is raised that Aetna cannot be validly subrogated to the Ficarras contract claim because payment under the insurance policy was made to the tenants and not the Ficarras. The payment to the tenants had the same effect as a direct payment to the landlord. To argue that there would be subrogation if Ficarro had been paid directly and then in turn paid the tenants, and no subrogation where the tenants are paid directly, is unduly technical. Further, an indirect payment such as this is authorized by the Civil Code in LSA-C.C. art. 2140 which states:

The payment must be made to the creditor, or to some person having a power from him to receive it, or who is authorized by a court, or by law, to receive it for him.
Payment made to a person, not having power to receive it for the creditor, is valid, if the creditor has ratified it, or has profited by it. LSA-C.C. art. 2140

The Ficarras profited from the payment made to the tenants on their behalf. Since they requested the payment we conclude they also ratified the payment. Therefore, the payment to the tenants had the same effect as if payment had been made directly to the Ficarras.

The second argument raised by the applicant is the more significant of the two and the reason writs were granted in this case.

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488 So. 2d 950, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aetna-ins-co-v-naquin-la-1986.