Beach v. Peter Scalfano Enterprises

949 So. 2d 653, 6 La.App. 3 Cir. 1139, 2007 La. App. LEXIS 153, 2007 WL 397141
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 7, 2007
DocketNo. 2006-1139
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 949 So. 2d 653 (Beach v. Peter Scalfano Enterprises) 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
Beach v. Peter Scalfano Enterprises, 949 So. 2d 653, 6 La.App. 3 Cir. 1139, 2007 La. App. LEXIS 153, 2007 WL 397141 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

GENOVESE, Judge.

11 Following a non-jury trial, the trial court found Defendant liable for the injuries Plaintiff sustained when he bit into a breakfast sandwich containing a solid object thought to be a foreign substance. The trial court also denied Defendant’s Exception of Prescription. Defendant appeals. For the following reasons, we reverse and render.

FACTS

On June 15, 2004, Plaintiff, Dave Beach (Beach), purchased a breakfast sandwich from a Burger King restaurant located in Pineville, Rapides Parish, Louisiana. Beach alleged that while eating the breakfast sandwich, he bit into a foreign object that caused damage to his tooth and gum.

On May 13, 2005, Beach filed a Petition for Damages naming Peter Scalfano Enterprises, Inc., Burger King Corporation1, [655]*655and ABC Insurance Company as defendants. Beach subsequently filed a First Supplemental and Amending Petition naming PSE Restaurants, L.L.C. (PSE Restaurants) as an additional defendant, which had been erroneously referred to in the original petition as Peter Scalfano Enterprises, Inc.

PSE Restaurants filed a Third Party Demand on November 3, 2005, naming as third party defendants several of its suppliers including Sara Lee Corporation, Schreiber Foods, Michael Foods, Inc., ConAgra Food Service, and ConAgra Refrigerated Foods, Co.

On November 29, 2005, Beach filed a Second Supplemental and Amending Petition adding Lexington Insurance Company (Lexington) as a defendant. On the same date, he filed a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment on the issue of the Inexistence of insurance coverage pursuant to the policy issued by Lexington to PSE Restaurants. A Stipulated Judgment was signed by the trial court on December 19, 2005, decreeing that the policy of insurance issued by Lexington did provide coverage to its insured, PSE Restaurants, thereby rendering Beach’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment moot.

After testing on the alleged foreign object revealed that the object was actually gristle, on November 29, 2005, PSE Restaurants dismissed, without prejudice, its third party demands against Sara Lee Corporation, Schreiber Foods, and Michael Foods, Inc. The Order granting the Motion for Judgment of Dismissal expressly reserved the rights of PSE Restaurants, as third party plaintiff, against ConAgra Food Service and ConAgra Refrigerated Foods, Co.

On January 20, 2006, PSE Restaurants filed a Motion for Judgment of Dismissal wherein it moved to dismiss its third party demands against the remaining third party defendants, ConAgra Food Service and ConAgra Refrigerated Foods, Co. The Order dismissing the third party demands, without prejudice, was signed by the trial court on January 30, 2006.

On February 8, 2006, Beach filed a Third Supplemental and Amending Petition, naming as additional defendants Con-Agra Food Service and ConAgra Refrigerated Foods, Co.2 ConAgra Foods Packaged Foods Company, Inc. (ConAgra) was named as a defendant by Beach in a subsequent supplemental and amending petition filed March 15, 2006. Along with its answer, ConAgra pled the defense of prescription as a bar to Beach’s claims.

Following a bench trial on April 25, 2006, the trial court: (1) dismissed Beach’s claims against PSE Restaurants, L.L.C. and Lexington Insurance Company; (2) | rendered judgment in favor of Beach against ConAgra Foods Packaged Foods Company, Inc.; and (3) denied ConAgra’s Exception of Prescription. A written judgment was signed by the trial court on May 15, 2006. ConAgra appeals. For the following reasons, we reverse and render.

ISSUES

The issues raised by ConAgra for our review are summarized as follows:

1. whether the trial court erred in finding ConAgra liable for the injuries sustained by Beach; and
2. whether the trial court erred in denying ConAgra’s Exception of Prescription.

[656]*656LAW AND ARGUMENT

ConAgra contends that the trial court erred in denying its Exception of Prescription. Because we find merit in this assertion, which renders the issue of liability moot, we will discuss the Exception of Prescription first.

Burden of Proof

“The burden of proof on the prescription issue lies with the party asserting it; however, where the petition shows on its face that the claim has prescribed, the .burden shifts to the plaintiff to prove that the prescriptive period has been interrupted or suspended.” Stevens v. Bruce, 04-133, p. 3 (La.App. 3 Cir. 6/2/04), 878 So.2d 734, 737 (citing Amoco Prod. Co. v. Texaco, Inc., 02-240, pp. 7-8 (La.App. 3 Cir. 1/29/03), 838 So.2d 821, 829, units denied, 03-1102, 03-1104 (La.6/6/03), 845 So.2d 1096).

In the instant matter, although Beach alleged a date of injury of June 15, 2004, he did not name ConAgra as a defendant until March 15, 2006. Since, on the face of the pleading the claim had prescribed, Beach bore the burden of proving that the prescriptive period was interrupted or suspended, which he failed to meet.

| ¿Standard of Review

In Leger v. Sonnier Exterminating Co., 05-1291, p. 4 (La.App. 3 Cir. 4/5/06), 926 So.2d 158, 161, writ denied, (La.6/23/06), 930 So.2d 982, this court discussed appellate review relative to an exception of prescription stating as follows:

Ordinarily, when an appeal involves a ruling on a peremptory exception with contested issues of fact and “[wjhen evidence is introduced and evaluated in the trial court on a peremptory exception, the appellate court must review the entire record to determine whether the trial court manifestly erred with its factual conclusions.” Egle v. Egle, 01-927, p. 4 (La.App. 3 Cir. 2/6/02), 817 So.2d 136, 139 (quoting Parker v. Buteau, 99-519, p. 3 (La.App. 3 Cir. 10/13/99), 746 So.2d 127, 129). However, in a case in which there are no contested issues of fact and the only issue is the application of the law to the undisputed facts, as in the case at bar, the appellate court must decide whether the lower court’s decision is legally correct or incorrect. Sieferman v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 01-439 (La.App. 3 Cir. 10/3/01), 796 So.2d 833 (citing Huddleston v. Farmers Merchants Bank & Trust Co., 00-640 (La.App. 3 Cir. 11/1/00), 772 So.2d 356).

Prescription

A delictual (tort) action is subject to one-year liberative prescription. La.Civ.Code art. 3492. The incident giving rise to the present litigation occurred on June 15, 2004. ConAgra was not named as a defendant in the main demand until March 15, 2006,3 more than twenty-two months after the incident occurred. Thus, unless suspension or interruption of the one-year prescriptive period occurred, Beach’s claims against ConAgra were untimely.

We note that the trial court did not provide any reasons for denying ConA-gra’s Exception of Prescription. In his appellate brief, Beach relies on the theory of joint tortfeasor liability for the interruption of prescription.4 He cites the trial [657]*657court’s treasons for judgment wherein the court, referring to “ConAgra and PSE [Restaurants,]” stated that “they failed to exercise the reasonable care to the consumer, Mr.

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949 So. 2d 653, 6 La.App. 3 Cir. 1139, 2007 La. App. LEXIS 153, 2007 WL 397141, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/beach-v-peter-scalfano-enterprises-lactapp-2007.