Ensminger v. Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co.

134 So. 2d 686
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 26, 1961
Docket9554
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 134 So. 2d 686 (Ensminger v. Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co.) 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
Ensminger v. Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co., 134 So. 2d 686 (La. Ct. App. 1961).

Opinion

134 So.2d 686 (1961)

William Louis ENSMINGER et ux., Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
GREAT ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC TEA COMPANY et al., Defendants-Appellants,
Employers Liability Assurance Corporation, Ltd., Defendant-Appellee.

No. 9554.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

October 26, 1961.
Rehearing Denied November 22, 1961.

*687 Love & Rigby, Shreveport, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Lunn, Irion, Switzer, Trichel & Johnson, Shreveport, for defendants-appellants.

Cook, Clark, Egan, Yancey & King, Shreveport, for defendant-appellee.

Before HARDY, GLADNEY and BOLIN, JJ.

GLADNEY, Judge.

This suit was brought by William Louis Ensminger and his wife, Ouida Green Ensminger, to recover damages for personal injuries to Mrs. Ensminger, resulting from an accident occurring December 18, 1958, on the premises occupied by the defendant, the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, at No. 2724 Greenwood Road, Shreveport, Louisiana. Named defendants were the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, and its liability insurer, Aetna Casualty and Surety Company. The defendants answered plaintiffs' suit denying liability and filed a third party petition against Employers Liability Assurance Corporation, Ltd., liability insurer of John L. Baird and Mary Siner Baird, owners of the premises. The proceedings between the parties resulted in judgment of the trial court, maintaining a motion for a summary judgment by Employers against the third party plaintiffs, from which A and P and Aetna have appealed. There was judgment sustaining a plea of prescription filed on behalf of Employers, from which the original plaintiffs have appealed.

For a better understanding of the issues presented to this court on the appeals below, we have set forth in chronological order the pleadings as filed on behalf of the several parties subsequent to the introduction into the case of the third parties' petition and the disposition thereof by the trial court.

On January 7, 1960, more than a year after the accident happened, the A and P and its insurer filed a third party petition wherein they sought judgment over against *688 Employers. On January 27, 1960, the third party defendant, Employers, filed a prayer for oyer of the written lease referred to in the third party petition, and likewise filed an exception of no cause or right of action to the third party petition. Attached to this latter exception is a photostatic copy of the lease between the A and P and its lessors and a certified copy of the policy of liability insurance which Employers issued to the lessors. On January 28, 1960, the plaintiffs filed a supplemental and amended petition alleging that Employers should be joined as a defendant. The prayer for oyer was sustained but was deemed satisfied by the lease filed in the record and attached to the exception. The exception of no cause or right of action to the third party petition was referred to the merits. An exception of no cause or right of action to plaintiffs' petition and amended petition was filed by Employers. This exception was sustained on the ground that no allegations whatever were set forth in either the original or supplemental petitions showing any negligence whatever on the part of the lessor. On July 29, 1960, the plaintiffs filed a second supplemental and amended petition wherein they for the first time alleged acts of negligence on the part of the lessors and sought judgment against Employers. Employers filed an exception of no cause or right of action to the amended petitions and a plea of prescription wherein it contended that since the accident sued upon occurred on December 18, 1958, and since no petition purporting to set forth a cause of action predicated on any liability of the lessors was filed until July 29, 1960, action against the lessors and their insurer was prescribed under Article 3536 of the LSA-Civil Code. The plea of prescription urged against A and P and Aetna was referred to the merits and not passed upon. On December 16, 1960, judgment was rendered in favor of Employers and against the plaintiffs, sustaining the plea of prescription as against plaintiffs.

On January 6, 1961, Employers filed a motion for summary judgment on the third party demand of the A and P and its insurer, based upon the lease which was filed in the record of the case, the policy of insurance which was issued by Employers to the lessors, the pleadings and the judgment in favor of Employers and against the plaintiffs. This motion was argued and was sustained by the trial judge and the third party petition was dismissed.

The plaintiffs, William Louis Ensminger and wife, took a devolutive appeal from the judgment sustaining the plea of prescription and rejection of their demands against Employers, and at the same time the third party plaintiffs, the A and P and its insurer, took a devolutive appeal from the judgment sustaining the motion for summary judgment filed by Employers.

The third party relief resorted to by the defendant lessee, and its insurer, is predicated upon Articles 1111 through 1116 of the LSA-Code of Civil Procedure. The pertinent portion of Article 1111 describes:

"The defendant in a principal action by petition may bring in any person, including a codefendant, who is his warrantor, or who is or may be liable to him for all or part of the principal demand."

The purpose of the third party action is to allow a defendant in civil actions to implead one who will be secondarily liable to him if plaintiff's suit against him is successful. It is intended to avoid a multiplicity of actions. Plummer v. Motors Insurance Corporation, 1957, 233 La. 340, 96 So.2d 605. In Bourree v. A. K. Roy, Inc., 1957, 232 La. 149, 94 So.2d 13, 15, it was held that a third party action could not be maintained where the alleged indebtedness of the third party to the defendant did not arise out of or have any causal connection with the principal demand. In that case Justice McCaleb, its author, after noting that the third party action has a salutary function, commented:

"* * * it is manifest that it would lead to undesirable results to permit the statute to be extended to any case *689 in which the indebtedness of the third party to the defendant did not arise out of or have causal connection with the main demand. * * *"

In the cited case a purchaser brought suit for a rescission of the sale of realty and return of the purchase price. The property had been appropriated for levee use. The defendant vendor filed a third party action against the Board of Commissioners of the Levee District for the assessment value of the realty approved. The court held it was presented with a classic example of an attempt to make an improper use of the statute and concluded the exception of no right of action filed on behalf of the Levee Board should have been sustained.

Since it is evident that Employers is not A and P's warrantor, under the provisions of Art. 1111, as above quoted, the only basis upon which the third party petition may be sustained is that said insurer is or may be liable to A and P for all or part of the principal demands asserted against it by plaintiffs. For the third party petition to state a cause of action it must, therefore, disclose an obligation of Employers to reimburse the third party plaintiff.

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

Related

Dorion v. Eleven Eleven Bldg.
737 So. 2d 878 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1999)
Van Buren v. Continental Insurance Co.
522 So. 2d 1326 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1988)
Ostrander v. Parkland Villa Apartments
511 So. 2d 1293 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1987)
Pearson v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Company
281 So. 2d 724 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1973)
Hooper v. Wilkinson
252 So. 2d 137 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1971)
Cunningham v. Hardware Mutual Casualty Company
228 So. 2d 700 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1969)
Saxon v. Fireman's Insurance Co. of Newark, NJ
224 So. 2d 560 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1969)
Max Stool v. J. C. Penney Company, Inc.
404 F.2d 562 (Fifth Circuit, 1968)
Francis v. Herrin Transportation Company
432 S.W.2d 710 (Texas Supreme Court, 1968)
McGee v. Demery
176 So. 2d 679 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1965)
Burch v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co.
172 So. 2d 165 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1964)
Humphreys v. McComiskey
159 So. 2d 380 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1964)
Ensminger v. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company
152 So. 2d 586 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1963)
Sachse Electric, Inc. v. Graybar Electric Co.
152 So. 2d 304 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1963)
Vidrine v. Simoneaux
145 So. 2d 400 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1962)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
134 So. 2d 686, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ensminger-v-great-atlantic-and-pacific-tea-co-lactapp-1961.