Building & Construction Trades Council of Lake Charles, & Vicinity v. Gasoline Plant Const. Corp.

54 So. 2d 101, 219 La. 834, 1951 La. LEXIS 929
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedMay 28, 1951
DocketNo. 39999
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 54 So. 2d 101 (Building & Construction Trades Council of Lake Charles, & Vicinity v. Gasoline Plant Const. Corp.) 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
Building & Construction Trades Council of Lake Charles, & Vicinity v. Gasoline Plant Const. Corp., 54 So. 2d 101, 219 La. 834, 1951 La. LEXIS 929 (La. 1951).

Opinion

HAMITER, Justice.

In this action plaintiffs (hereinafter sometimes referred to as Trades Council et al.) seek to recover from defendant (hereinafter sometimes termed Construction Corporation) alleged damages totaling $17,000.

Averments of the petition are that on April 14, 1948, the Construction Corporation obtained a preliminary injunction from the Thirteenth Judicial District Court, within and for Evangeline Parish, restraining Trades Council et al., from performing certain acts; that the writ was wrongfully obtained, as the Court of Appeal of the First Circuit so decided on February 2, 1949; that the wrongfully issued writ remained in force in excess of nine months; and that, by reason of such wrongful issuance, Trades Council et al., have been damaged in the total amount for which judgment is sought.

The petition itemizes the alleged damages as follows:

“Attorney’s fees for obtaining the dissolution of the said illegal and wrongful writ of preliminary injunction................$ 4,500.00 Loss of bargaining power by reason of the issuance of the writ of preliminary injunction.. 12,500.00”

To'the petition herein the Construction Corporation tendered exceptions of prematurity, of vagueness, of lis pendens, and of no right and no cause of action.

After a trial of the exceptions, during which evidence was received, the district court sustained the exception of prematu[837]*837rity and, accordingly, dismissed this action as in case of non-suit.

From the judgment Trades Council et al., are prosecuting this appeal, and it presents for review only the ruling on the exception of prematurity.

The record before us discloses that the Construction Corporation brought a suit in the Thirteenth Judicial District Court of Evangeline Parish, docketed there as No. 7067, alleging interference on the part of Trades Council et al., with its construction of a gasoline plant in the named parish for Magnolia Petroleum Company, all in violation of the provisions of Act No. 180 of 1946. It prayed therein that the interference be prevented by the issuance of a preliminary injunction, after a hearing on a rule nisi, and by a permanent injunction following a trial of the merits.

At the hearing of the rule nisi for the preliminary injunction, which occurred on supporting affidavits as authorized by Section 2 of Act No. 29 of 1924, LSA-RS 13:4063 to 13:4067, the Construction Corporation offered 21 affidavits in support of its allegations. To these Trades Council et al., objected on the ground that the caption of the suit, including the title and number thereof, did not appear on each affidavit as required by the 1924 statute (all were hound together, as one- document, under a single caption). The objection was referred to the merits and the affidavits admitted. Thereupon, Trades Council et al., introduced 40 affidavits.

Following the hearing of the rule the district court decreed the issuance of the preliminary injunction, restraining Trades Council et al., “from blocking the entrances to plaintiff’s plant site, and from using force, violence, threats and intimida'tion in preventing or attempting to prevent any of plaintiff’s agents, hired help and/or employees from continuing in such employ, or any person or persons from accepting employment with plaintiff, or from entering or leaving said place of operation of plaintiff herein.”

The court also ordered, however, that Trades Council et al., .be permitted to peacefully picket the site, should they so desire, in a specified restricted manner.

A devolutive appeal from the decree was requested and obtained by Trades Council et al., returnable to the Court of Appeal of the First Circuit.

In that court Trades Council et al., reurged their objection previously made to the 21 affidavits of the -Construction Corporation, contending that they were not individually captioned in accordance with the mandatory provision of Section 2 of Act No. 29 of 1924 which recites: “Affidavits shall be entitled and numbered in the cause * * *.” LSA-RS 13:4067. The Court of Appeal upheld this contention, stating in part and ordering as follows:

“We are of the opinion that the objection made by the defendants to the introduction of Affidavits P-1 through P-21, offered by the plaintiff, and which affidavits [839]*839did not contain the title and number of the cause, should have been sustained. Such a ruling leaves the plaintiff without any proof of the allegations of its petition, and it is therefore not entitled to the relief prayed for and granted by the judgment of the Lower Court.
“While the defendants contend that the judgment is erroneous on five other grounds, it is unnecessary to consider them in view of our present ruling.
* * * « * ' * *
“It is therefore ordered that the judgment of the District Court be reversed and that there now -be judgment in favor of the defendants and against the plaintiff, recalling and dissolving the preliminary writ of injunction issued herein, the plaintiff to pay all costs incurred in obtaining the writ of preliminary injunction, all other costs.to await the final determination of this case.
“It is further ordered that this case be remanded to the District Court for hearing on the merits in accordance with law.” See La.App., 38 So.2d 657, 661.

Since the remand of that case, according to a certificate of the Chief Deputy Clerk of the Thirteenth Judicial District Court contained in the record before us, “no proceedings whatsoever have taken place, no motions or fixings were instituted for hearing of the said case on the merits, and as far as the records of this court show, this case has not been heard on its merits, has not been dismissed, compromised nor settled in any way, shape or form.”

Complaining of the district court’s sustaining the exception of prematurity in the instant action, Trades Council et al., argue on this appeal that actual damages, such as they seek, are recoverable as a matter of right on a mere showing that the preliminary injunction has been dissolved. This argument is predicated on certain pronouncements of this court contained in our early jurisprudence, principally among which are the following:

“ * * * The dissolution of an injunction must be regarded as conclusive of its improper or wrongful issuance, and those who resort to the harsh and extraordinary remedies of conservatory process, such as attachment, sequestration, arrest and injunction, do so at their peril, and if not sustained are liable for actual damages resulting from or growing out of the proceedings. * * * ”
“The dissolution of an injunction is prima facie evidence of an injury sustained by the party enjoined, and entitles him to actual damages.”
“The dismissal of an injunction suit on an exception is equivalent in law to a judgment decreeing the injunction to have been wrongfully obtained.”
“An action in damages following such a judgment, by the defendants in the injunction suit, involves but one question, and that is the quantum of damages to be allowed.”

[841]*841See Conery v. Coons, 33 La.Ann. 372, Barthe v. City of New Orleans, 42 La.Ann. 43, 7 So. 70, and cases therein cited.

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Bluebook (online)
54 So. 2d 101, 219 La. 834, 1951 La. LEXIS 929, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/building-construction-trades-council-of-lake-charles-vicinity-v-la-1951.