Covenant General Contractors, Inc. v. S.J. Louis Construction of Texas Ltd. and City of Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company

Opinion

STATE OF LOUISIANA

COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

COVENANT GENERAL CONTRACTORS, INC. NO. 2020 CW 0939

VERSUS

S. J. LOUIS CONSTRUCTION OF TEXAS, LTD. AND CITY OF BATON ROUGE, EAST DECEMBER $, 2020 BATON ROUGE PARISH AND LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY

In Re: S. J. Louis Construction of Texas, Ltd. and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, applying for supervisory writs, 19th Judicial District Court, Parish of East

Baton Rouge, No. 682787.

BEFORE: McDONALD, HOLDRIDGE, AND PENZATO, JJ.

WRIT GRANTED. The trial court' s judgment denying the

defendants', S. J. Louis Construction of Texas, Ltd. and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company' s, exception of prematurity and motion

to stay pending arbitration is reversed. S. J. Louis

Construction of Texas, Ltd. and Covenant General Contractors,

Tnc. agreed to by arbitrate including all claims the parties,

those arising out of any administrative and/ or statutory basis. The issue of whether a party to an arbitration agreement has waived arbitration is for the arbitrator to decide. International River Center v. Johns -Manville Sales Corp., 2002- 3060 ( La. 12/ 3/ 03), 861 So. 2d 139, 142; Arkel Constructors, Inc.

v. Duplantier & Meric, Architects, L. L. C., 2006- 1950 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 7/ 25/ 07), 965 So. 2d 455, 461. Additionally, by incorporating the American Arbitration Association' s Construction Industry Arbitration Rules into the subject

arbitration agreements, the parties agreed that "[ t] he arbitrator shall have the power to rule on his or her own

jurisdiction, including any objections with respect to the

existence, scope, or validity of the arbitration agreement."

See Fla. Gas Transmission Company, LLC v. Texas Brine Company, LLC, 2017- 0304 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 12/ 6/ 18), 267 So. 3d 633, 637,

reh' g denied ( Jan. 25, 2019), writ denied, 2019- 0333 ( La. 6/ 26/ 19), 275 So. 3d 876; Jasper Contractors, Inc. V. E-

Claim. com, LLC, 2011- 0978 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 5/ 4/ 12), 94 So. 3d 123, 134. Accordingly, the defendants' exception of prematurity and motion to stay is granted and this matter is stayed pending arbitration of these claims.

JMM AHP

Holdridge, J., concurs in the result, although I believe the better approach would be to remand this matter to the

district court for a re -- trial of the exception of prematurity, with the parties being afforded the opportunity to introduce all relevant evidence. Giacona v. Conti Commodity Services, Inc.,

413 So. 2d 487 ( La. 1982).

C T OF A AL, FIRST CIRCUIT T

DEPUTY CL RK OF COURT FOR THE COURT