Balakrishnan v. Louisiana State University

939 So. 2d 595, 2006 WL 3042099
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 13, 2006
Docket2005-CA-1266, 2005-C-1503
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 939 So. 2d 595 (Balakrishnan v. Louisiana State University) 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
Balakrishnan v. Louisiana State University, 939 So. 2d 595, 2006 WL 3042099 (La. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

939 So.2d 595 (2006)

Maya BALAKRISHNAN
v.
LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE in New Orleans, the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College.
The State of Louisiana, et al.
v.
Maya Balakrishnan.

Nos. 2005-CA-1266, 2005-C-1503.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

September 13, 2006.
Rehearing Denied October 31, 2006.

*596 Roger D. Phipps, Phipps & Phipps, New Orleans, Louisiana, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Charles C. Foti, Jr., Attorney General State of Louisiana, Paul B. Deal, Assistant Attorney General/Office Chief, New Orleans, Louisiana, for Defendants/Appellants.

(Court composed of Judge JAMES F. McKAY, III, Judge DENNIS R. BAGNERIS, SR., Judge EDWIN A. LOMBARD).

JAMES F. McKAY III, Judge.

The appellant Louisiana State University School of Medicine ("LSU Medical School"), The Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College and the State of Louisiana (the State), appeals the judgment of the trial court. The trial court entered an order/judgment of preliminary default, a judgment confirming the default, issued a mandatory injunction, awarded six separate damages, attorney's fees and cost totaling $650,453, and denied the defendant's motion for new trial and/or to set aside the default judgment and return the case to the ordinary docket. We agree with appellant's contentions and set aside the judgment of the trial court and remand the matter for a new trial.

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

This appeal primarily concerns the issue of insufficient evidence to support the Duty Judge's granting of a preliminary default against the appellant and trial court's improvident confirmation of the default judgment. As a result of this confirmation a mandatory injunction was issued; also damages, attorney's fees and cost were awarded to Maya Balakrishnan. Further, the trial court ordered, adjudicated, and decreed that within 30 days from the signing of the judgment that the defendant, LSU Medical School, grant and issue Maya Balakrishnan, a diploma and certification, signed by the requisite University authorities, stating that she had completed the LSU psychiatry residency program. This particular issue is of great concern to this Court in light of the record before us.

On January 21, 2005, Maya Balakrishnan, file a petition in Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans entitled "Maya Balakrishnan v. Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College." The petition asserted discrimination and damages as a result of the action of LSU Medical School, pursuant to Title 42, USC, § 1981, 1983 and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

On February 25, 2005, the Orleans Parish Civil District Court Duty Judge Madeline Landrieu, entered a preliminary default judgment against the defendant. On April 7, 2005, the trial court, as per the order and judgment of the docketed division "A", Judge Carolyn W. Gill-Jefferson, confirmed the preliminary default against *597 the defendant. The trial court, as its reasons for judgment adopted the plaintiff's memoranda in opposition to the defendant's motion for new trial. The judgment is as follows:

IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDICATED AND DECREED that within 30 days from the signing of this judgment, Defendant grant and issue Plaintiff/Petitioner's diploma and certification, signed by the requisite University authorities, stating that she has completed the LSU psychiatry residency program;
IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDICATED AND DECREED that Defendant pay Plaintiff back pay of $129.167.00;
IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDICATED AND DECREED that Defendant pay Plaintiff front pay of $300,000.00;
IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDICATED AND DECREED that Defendant pay Plaintiff nonpecuniary compensatory damages for pain and suffering, emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, inconvenience in the amount of $100,000.00;
IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDICATED AND DECREED that Defendant pay attorney's fees of $20,577.00;
IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDICATED AND DECREED that Defendant pay the cost of this litigation in the amount of $709.00 to plaintiff;
IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDICATED AND DECREED that pursuant to Louisiana Civil Code Article 2315, Defendant pay Plaintiff $100,000.00.

On April 14, 2005, the defendant filed a motion for new trial and/or motion to vacate default judgment, which the trial court denied on May 25, 2005.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

The appellant forwards two assignments of error. First, the appellant asserts that the evidence produced by plaintiff at the default hearing on April 6, 2005, was insufficient to justify and support the confirmation judgment. Second, the appellant asserts that the trial court committed error in failing to annul the preliminary and confirmation default judgments and in failing to grant the appellant's motion for new trial.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

In reviewing a default judgment, an appellate court is restricted solely to determining whether the record contains sufficient evidence to support a prima facie case. Mossy Motors, Inc. v. Cameras America, XXXX-XXXX, p. 3 (La.App. 4 Cir. 6/25/03) 851 So.2d 336, 339; Brasseaux v. Allstate Insurance Company, 97-0526 (La. App. 1 Cir. 4/8/98), 710 So.2d 826.

BURDEN OF PROOF

The Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure provides in article 1702: "A judgment of default must be confirmed by proof of the demand sufficient to establish a prima facie case." La. C.C.P. art. 1702(A). Construing the prima facie case requirement of Article 1702, the Louisiana Supreme Court in Sessions & Fishman v. Liquid Air Corp., 616 So.2d 1254 (La.1993), stated: In order for a plaintiff to obtain a default judgment, "he must establish the elements of a prima facie case with competent evidence, as fully as though each of the allegations in the petition were denied by the defendant." Thibodeaux v. Burton, 538 So.2d 1001, 1004 (La.1989); Blue Bonnet Creamery, Inc. v. Simon, 243 La. 683, 146 So.2d 162, 166 (1962).

"In other words, the plaintiff must present competent evidence that convinces the court that it is probable that he would prevail on a trial on the merits." Thibodeaux, 538 So.2d at 1004; Also See. Cornish v. Doctors Care, LLC, XXXX-XXXX (La.App. 4 Cir. 6/12/02), 819 So.2d 1158, *598 1162; Gleason v. Palmieri, 97-0624, p. 3 (La.App. 4 Cir. 12/23/97), 707 So.2d 57, 58. While there is a presumption that the record supports a default judgment, that presumption does not attach where the record indicates otherwise. Id. See also, Orleans Sheet Metal Works and Roofing, Inc. v. Landis Co., Inc., 96-0029, pp. 2-3 (La.App. 4 Cir. 7/24/96), 678 So.2d 73, 74. Although there is a presumption that the judgment confirming a default is supported by competent evidence, it does not apply when, as in this case, there is a transcript of the confirmation proceeding. Hall v. Folger Coffee Co., XXXX-XXXX (La.App. 4 Cir. 10/1/03), 857 So.2d 1234,1244; Hickman v. Wm. Wrigley, Jr., Co., 33,896 (La.App. 2 Cir. 10/4/00), 768 So.2d 812.

As a corollary, "[e]xcept as authorized by the Code of Civil Procedure Article 1702, or evidence that fits within one of the exceptions provided by [the Louisiana Evidence] Code, hearsay evidence is inadmissible to confirm a default." Id.; see La. C.E. art.

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

Related

Provident Bank v. Leslie
28 So. 3d 1196 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)
Garco, Inc. v. Rob's Cleaning & Powerwash, Inc.
12 So. 3d 386 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
939 So. 2d 595, 2006 WL 3042099, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/balakrishnan-v-louisiana-state-university-lactapp-2006.