Ansanta Cole, Osborne Picou, Jr., and Tonia Hall, as Survivors on Behalf of Osborne Picou, Sr., Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated Versus St. Joseph of Harahan, L.L.C., Highpoint Healthcare, L.L.C., and Plantation Management Company, L.L.C.

CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 7, 2024
Docket24-C-148
StatusUnknown

This text of Ansanta Cole, Osborne Picou, Jr., and Tonia Hall, as Survivors on Behalf of Osborne Picou, Sr., Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated Versus St. Joseph of Harahan, L.L.C., Highpoint Healthcare, L.L.C., and Plantation Management Company, L.L.C. (Ansanta Cole, Osborne Picou, Jr., and Tonia Hall, as Survivors on Behalf of Osborne Picou, Sr., Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated Versus St. Joseph of Harahan, L.L.C., Highpoint Healthcare, L.L.C., and Plantation Management Company, L.L.C.) 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
Ansanta Cole, Osborne Picou, Jr., and Tonia Hall, as Survivors on Behalf of Osborne Picou, Sr., Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated Versus St. Joseph of Harahan, L.L.C., Highpoint Healthcare, L.L.C., and Plantation Management Company, L.L.C., (La. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

ANSANTA COLE, ET AL. NO. 24-C-148

VERSUS FIFTH CIRCUIT

ST. JOSEPH OF HARAHAN, L.L.C., ET AL. COURT OF APPEAL

STATE OF LOUISIANA

ON APPLICATION FOR SUPERVISORY REVIEW FROM THE TWENTY-FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT PARISH OF JEFFERSON, STATE OF LOUISIANA NO. 827,574 , DIVISION "I" HONORABLE NANCY A. MILLER, JUDGE PRESIDING

August 07, 2024

TIMOTHY S. MARCEL JUDGE

Panel composed of Judges Susan M. Chehardy, Scott U. Schlegel, and Timothy S. Marcel

WRIT GRANTED, JUDGMENT REVERSED, EXCEPTION OF NO CAUSE OF ACTION SUSTAINED; JUDGMENT GRANTING DISCOVERY DISMISSED AS MOOT, CASE DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE TSM SMC SUS COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/RELATOR, PLANTATION MANAGEMENT COMPANY, L.L.C., HIGHPOINT HEALTHCARE, L.L.C., AND ST. JOSEPH OF HARAHAN, L.L.C. Jimmy R. Faircloth, Jr. Mary K. Price Barbara B. Melton

COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF/RESPONDENT, ANSANTA COLE, OSBORNE PICOU, JR., AND TONIA HALL, AS SURVIVORS ON BEHALF OF OSBORNE PICOU, SR., INDIVIDUALLY AND ON BEHALF OF ALL OTHER SIMILARLY SITUATED Matthew M. Coman Jordan M. Jeansonne Stephen M. Huber Christopher T. Whelen MARCEL, J.

Relators/Defendants, St. Joseph of Harahan, L.L.C., Highpoint Healthcare,

L.L.C., and Plantation Management Company, L.L.C. (collectively “St. Joseph”),

seek supervisory review of the trial court’s February 27, 2024, judgment (1)

overruling their peremptory exception of no cause of action and (2) granting

plaintiffs’ motion to compel discovery and motion to compel the La. C.C.P. art.

1442 deposition of St. Joseph.

For the following reasons, we grant St. Joseph’s writ application, reverse the

trial court’s February 27, 2024, judgment, and sustain St. Joseph’s peremptory

exception of no cause of action, dismissing plaintiffs’ claims against it, with

prejudice. Consequently, we also reverse the trial court’s February 27, 2024,

judgment, vacating the order for St. Joseph to produce discovery and present for a

La. C.C.P. art 1442 deposition, as moot.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

St. Joseph is a skilled nursing facility located in Harahan, Louisiana.

Plaintiffs Ansanta Cole, Osborne Picou, Jr. and Tonia Hall, are the surviving

children of Osborne Picou, Sr. This action arises from Mr. Picou’s admission and

approximate twelve-month residency at St. Joseph as well as the admission and

residency of other similarly situated individuals.1 In their second amended class

action petition for damages (“second amended petition”), plaintiffs allege St.

Joseph’s affirmatively represented that Mr. Picou and others would receive nursing

treatment services in accordance with the Louisiana Nursing Home Residents Bill

of Rights (NHRBR)2 while knowing its facility was understaffed. This

misrepresentation, the second petition for damages alleges, induced Mr. Picou and

1 The record indicates that Mr. Osborne Picou, Sr. was a nursing home resident at the facility on or about August 10, 2021 to on or about August 2022. 2 La. R.S. 40:2010.6, et seq.

24-C-148 1 others to enter residency at the facility. It is also alleged that St. Joseph

intentionally withheld resources to increase its profits, resulting in actual nursing

staffing hours that were well below applicable federal nursing home administrative

standards which violated the NHRBR.

Plaintiffs’ second amended petition recites causes of action for fraud under

La. C.C. arts. 2315 and 1953 for which monetary damages, attorney’s fees and

costs are sought. The only damage alleged with specificity is the “… diminution

of the value between the nursing services promised by DEFENDANTS and those

actually rendered to Mr. Picou and others similarly situated, …” It further moves

for certification to proceed as a class action on behalf of current and former St.

Joseph residents.

In response to plaintiffs’ second amended petition, St. Joseph filed

peremptory exceptions of no right of action and no cause of action, and a dilatory

exception of improper cumulation of actions. Prior to the exceptions hearing,

plaintiffs filed a motion to compel discovery. St. Joseph objected to plaintiff’s

discovery requests, moving for entry of a protective order limiting discovery to the

threshold issue of class certification, and objected to plaintiffs’ notice of a La.

C.C.P. art. 1442 deposition of St. Joseph.

St. Joseph’s peremptory and dilatory exceptions and discovery motions

came for hearing on January 25, 2024. On February 27, 2024, the trial court issued

its written judgment which (1) sustained St. Joseph’s exception of no right of

action as to plaintiffs’ claim for injunctive relief under La. C.C.P. art. 3601, as Mr.

Picou is no longer a resident of the facility; (2) overruled St. Joseph’s exception of

no cause of action as to plaintiffs’ fraud claims; and (3) granted plaintiffs’ motion

to compel discovery, allowing plaintiffs to conduct merit-based discovery prior to

certification of a class. As part of the judgment, the trial court stayed discovery,

allowing St. Joseph the opportunity to seek review by this Court.

24-C-148 2 This timely writ application filed by St. Joseph followed, which presents

four assignments of error:

1. The trial court erred in overruling Defendants’ exception of no cause of action for Plaintiffs’ Article 2315 claim because the scope of the duty owed under the NHRBR does not extend to damage awards. 2. The trial court erred in overruling Defendants’ exception of no cause of action for Plaintiffs’ Article 2315 claim where Plaintiffs do not allege compensable injuries or actual harm. 3. The trial court erred in overruling Defendants’ exception of no cause of action for Plaintiffs’ Article 1953 claim because the NHRBR creates a statutory duty, not an implied contractual obligation, as part of a resident admissions agreement. 4. The trial court erred in allowing Plaintiffs to conduct broad-based merits discovery prior to certification of a class action under La. C.C.P. art. 591.

DISCUSSION

Exception of No Cause of Action – Standard of Review

Three of St. Joseph’s four assignments of error address the trial court’s

denial of its exceptions of no cause of action to plaintiffs’ second amended

petition. The exception of no cause of action tests the legal sufficiency of the

petition by determining whether the law affords a remedy against the defendant to

anyone under the factual allegations of the petition. Everything on Wheels Subaru,

Inc. v. Subaru South, Inc., 616 So.2d 1234, 1235 (La. 1993). No evidence may be

introduced to support or controvert the objection that the petition fails to state a

cause of action. La. C.C.P. art. 931. The exception is triable on the face of the

petition, and for the purpose of determining the issues raised by the exception, the

well-pleaded facts in the petition must be accepted as true, and all inferences

drawn in favor of the non-moving party for the purposes of the exception. Fink v.

Bryant, 01-987 (La. 11/28/01), 801 So.2d 346, 349. The inquiry is whether the

petition, applying the foregoing standards, states any valid cause of action for

relief. IECI, LLC v. South Central Planning and Development Commission, Inc.,

24-C-148 3 21-382 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2/23/22), 336 So.3d 601, 611. A petition should not be

dismissed for failure to state a cause of action unless it appears beyond doubt that

the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of any claim which would entitle

him to relief. Fink, 801 So.2d at 349. Because the exception of no cause of action

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

Related

State v. Parks
2 So. 3d 470 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)
City of New Orleans v. Board of Com'rs
640 So. 2d 237 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1994)
Daye v. General Motors Corp.
720 So. 2d 654 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1998)
Everything on Wheels Subaru, Inc. v. Subaru South, Inc.
616 So. 2d 1234 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1993)
Fink v. Bryant
801 So. 2d 346 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2001)
Stutts v. Melton
130 So. 3d 808 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2013)
Wiltz v. Brothers Petroleum, L.L.C.
140 So. 3d 758 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
Henry v. Cox Communications Louisiana, L.L.C.
151 So. 3d 581 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2014)
Watson v. Woldenberg Village, Inc.
203 So. 3d 317 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016)
Horton v. Blackrock Aggregates, LLC
213 So. 3d 429 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2017)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Ansanta Cole, Osborne Picou, Jr., and Tonia Hall, as Survivors on Behalf of Osborne Picou, Sr., Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated Versus St. Joseph of Harahan, L.L.C., Highpoint Healthcare, L.L.C., and Plantation Management Company, L.L.C., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ansanta-cole-osborne-picou-jr-and-tonia-hall-as-survivors-on-behalf-of-lactapp-2024.