Aetna Ins. Co. v. Naquin

478 So. 2d 1352
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 24, 1986
Docket85-CA-357, 85-CA-358
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 478 So. 2d 1352 (Aetna Ins. Co. v. Naquin) 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
Aetna Ins. Co. v. Naquin, 478 So. 2d 1352 (La. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

478 So.2d 1352 (1985)

AETNA INSURANCE COMPANY
v.
Robert NAQUIN, Individually, and Robert Naquin, d/b/a Bob's Roofing & Sheet Metal.
Mrs. Philip FICARRA and Dennis Ficarra
v.
Robert NAQUIN, Individually and Robert Naquin, d/b/a Bob's Roofing & Sheet Metal.

Nos. 85-CA-357, 85-CA-358.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

November 12, 1985.
Writ Granted January 24, 1986.

*1353 W.D. Rankin, New Orleans, for plaintiff-appellee.

Richard A. Tonry, Chalmette, for defendant-appellant.

Before KLIEBERT, CURRAULT and DUFRESNE, JJ.

DUFRESNE, Judge.

This is a consolidated lawsuit which arose from the alleged negligent performance of a construction contract. The first lawsuit was filed by Aetna Insurance Company (Aetna), claiming legal subrogation (reimbursement) for the claims paid in settlement for damages on behalf of the Ficarras to their tenants under a homeowner's insurance policy covering a four-plex apartment building located in Metairie, Louisiana.

This action alleged that the damages sustained by the Ficarras and paid by Aetna were caused by the negligent performance and breach of contract to install a new roof on the four-plex apartment building insured by Aetna. Subsequently, a second lawsuit was filed by the Ficarras against the defendant, Naquin, for recovery of the cost of repairing damages from the water to the building and also for the cost of a replacement roof.

Defendant (Naquin) filed an Exception of Improper Venue in each of these lawsuits, alleging that "defendant herein resides in the Parish of St. Tammany and conducts his place of business in the Parish of St. Bernard". Naquin filed a separate reconventional demand in the Ficarra lawsuit for the price of the roofing work which was never paid. Further, Naquin filed a separate Third-Party Demand in the Aetna lawsuit, making the Ficarras' third-party defendants and seeking payment of the price of the roofing work.

In both the Reconventional Demand and the Third-Party Demand, Naquin claimed that any damages sustained by the "four-plex apartment dwelling" were done by an act of God in heavy rains and winds and said alleged damages were not due to any faulty workmanship on the part of Naquin.

After trial on the merits, the district court rendered judgment awarding the Ficarras $4,820.00 and Aetna $7,224.73. He concluded that Naquin had breached his contractual duty to perform as a prudent contractor.

Subsequently, Naquin filed a motion for a new trial, urging that weather reports for the dates in question refuted the testimony of the plaintiff's witnesses that it had not rained during the period between the commencement of work on the roof and the date the roofing materials were blown off by heavy winds, thus interrupting the work in progress. Naquin also pleaded the bar of prescription in tort because the lawsuit by plaintiff, having been filed more than one year after the alleged misconduct, and further pleaded that Aetna had not established its entitlement to subrogation for the monies allegedly paid the Ficarras' tenants for water damage since the policy of insurance establishing its obligation and coverage of the incident in suit, was not offered or admitted in evidence. Finally, he reurged his exception to the venue because defendant was domiciled in St. Tammany Parish and his place of business was located in St. Bernard Parish. This motion for a new trial was denied by the trial court.

*1354 Naquin has appealed to this court for our review and has assigned the following specifications of error:

1. The trial court erred when it overruled defendant's exception to the venue of an action ex contractu when the defendant was domiciled in the Parish of St. Tammany and his place of business was maintained in the Parish of St. Bernard.

2. The trial court erred when it held that Aetna Insurance Company was legally subrogated to the monies paid to its insured's tenants for water damage to personal property when the evidence was insufficient to establish a conventional subrogation and the insurer was bound to the insured to pay the damages of the tenants irrespective of any fault of a third-party.

Naquin argued that the action before us was filed in the Parish of Jefferson where venue existed pursuant to LSA-C. C.P. Article 74 relative to actions in tort. He asserts that the Ficarras elected to pursue their remedy in tort and, by their choice, to keep the action in the parish where the Ficarras resided, and expressly elected to limit their actions to one ex delicto. At the outset, we recognize the rule that when a party has been damaged by the conduct of another arising out of a contractual relationship, he may have two remedies, one in tort and another in contract and he may elect to recover in either. Federal Insurance Company v. Insurance Company of North America, 262 La. 509, 263 So.2d 871 (1972). Therefore, the negligent performance of a contract can give rise to either a contract or tort action, and venue is appropriate in either the parish where the contract action or the tort action could be brought.

The record indicates that the Ficarras entered into an oral contract with Naquin to replace the roof on the four-plex apartment building in Metairie, Louisiana. Thereafter, the defendant, Naquin, d/b/a Bob's Roofing and Sheet Metal started replacement of the roof on the four-plex apartment building in accordance with the oral contract, stripping the old roof off and beginning the repair and replacement of a new roof. The negotiations for the repairs were made by the parties through conversations they had in person and over the phone. The conversations between these parties indicated that an offer was made and accepted in Jefferson Parish.

The law in Louisiana is clear that absent contrary intent by the parties, a contract is considered executed at the place where the offer is accepted or where the last act necessary to a meeting of the minds or to completing the contract is performed. We have concluded after a careful review of the record that the roofing contract was perfected in the Parish of Jefferson. The plaintiffs contend that while their suit arises out of a contract between the Ficarras and Naquin, their right of action for damages is not necessarily contractual, but within the exception provided by the Code of Civil Procedure. There is ample authority to support their argument that violation of a contract can cause damages ex delicto as well as contractual, and under certain conditions, the action may be in tort. Upon this premise, they contend that their actions for recovery of damages in this proceeding are based on the following: (1) quasi offenses resulting from the negligent and unskillful manner in which the defendant performed the building contract and (2) breach of oral contract. The record further reflects that the facts pleaded in the plaintiffs' petition have set forth a cause of action ex-delicto and one ex contractu, although the tort cause of action was prescribed, the breach of contract action was not. This lawsuit was brought asserting two theories of recovery, that is, tort and contract, and as long as the facts supporting both claims are interrelated, venue is proper as to both claims if it is proper as to one. Hebert v. Myers, 449 So.2d 185 (La.App.3rd Cir.1984); Metcalf v. Pool and Home Care, 467 So.2d 610 (La.App.3rd Cir.1985).

Under the general rule provided by Louisiana C.C.P. Article 42, the proper venue for a contract action is in the Parish of the defendant's domicile. However, LSA-C. C.P.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
478 So. 2d 1352, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aetna-ins-co-v-naquin-lactapp-1986.