Everything on Wheels Subaru v. Subaru South

593 So. 2d 1269, 1991 WL 317063
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 21, 1992
Docket90 CA 0974
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 593 So. 2d 1269 (Everything on Wheels Subaru v. Subaru South) 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
Everything on Wheels Subaru v. Subaru South, 593 So. 2d 1269, 1991 WL 317063 (La. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

593 So.2d 1269 (1991)

EVERYTHING ON WHEELS SUBARU, INC.
v.
SUBARU SOUTH, INC.

No. 90 CA 0974.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

October 24, 1991.
Writ Granted February 21, 1992.

*1271 H. Evans Scobee, Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellant Everything on Wheels, Subaru, Inc.

William A. Morvant, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellee Subaru South, Inc.

Before WATKINS, CARTER and FOIL, JJ.

CARTER, Judge.

This is an appeal from a trial court judgment sustaining a peremptory exception pleading the objection of no cause of action as to two causes of action.

FACTS

In 1987, plaintiff, Everything on Wheels Subaru, Inc., was formed to engage in retail automobile sales in the Baton Rouge area. At that time, plaintiff entered into a contract with the defendant, Subaru South, Inc., authorizing plaintiff to sell Subaru automobiles which defendant would supply. Plaintiff and defendant engaged in an apparently harmonious business relationship with defendant sending plaintiff inventory and plaintiff accepting the shipments. In March of 1988, plaintiff decided to terminate the franchise and sell the dealership at which time it began to refuse shipments of inventory.

On June 2, 1989, plaintiff filed the instant suit for damages. Thereafter, defendant filed a peremptory exception pleading the objection of no cause of action and dilatory exceptions pleading the objections of vagueness and prematurity. By judgment, dated September 14, 1989, the trial court sustained defendant's exception pleading the objection of vagueness and granted plaintiff an opportunity to amend its petition so as to state a cause of action against defendant.[1]

In its amended petition, plaintiff set forth four causes of action:

1. That defendant shipped more vehicles to plaintiff than could reasonably be expected to be sold in the ordinary course of business;

2. That defendant charged interest for units sent over and above the floor plan financing arrangement with plaintiff;

3. That defendant induced plaintiff to accept shipment of late model vehicles; and

4. That defendant violated the provisions of LSA-R.S. 32:1257 requiring the repurchase of inventory.

Defendant again filed exceptions pleading the objections of no cause of action, vagueness, and prematurity. By judgment, dated March 27, 1990, the trial court sustained defendant's exception pleading the objection of no cause of action as to causes of action one and four and denied defendant's exception with regard to causes of action two and three.

From this adverse judgment, plaintiff appeals assigning the following errors:

1. The trial court erred in maintaining defendant's exception of no cause of action Number 1, regarding the over shipment of initial inventory to EOW.

2. The trial court erred in dismissing plaintiff's cause of action Number 4, relating to the illegal actions of Subaru which directly resulted in the loss of a sales opportunity by EOW.

OBJECTION OF NO CAUSE OF ACTION

The peremptory exception pleading the objection of no cause of action is a *1272 procedural device used to test the legal sufficiency of the petition. Ward v. Tenneco Oil Company, 564 So.2d 814, 820 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1990). In other words, the exception pleading the objection of no cause of action tests whether, under the allegations of the petition, the law affords any remedy for the grievance asserted. Bellah v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Ins. Co., 546 So.2d 601, 603 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1989); Bordelon v. Cochrane, 533 So.2d 82, 84 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1988), writ denied, 536 So.2d 1255 (La.1989). For purposes of ruling on the exception, the court must accept all of the allegations of the petition as true and sustain the exception only if the law affords no remedy under any evidence that is admissible under the pleadings. Ward v. Tenneco Oil Company, 564 So.2d at 820; Bellah v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Ins. Co., 546 So.2d at 603. No evidence may be introduced to support or controvert the objection of no cause of action. LSA-C.C.P. art. 931; Ward v. Tenneco Oil Company, 564 So.2d at 820.

The general rule is that where a petition states a cause of action as to any ground or portion of a demand, the exception pleading the objection of no cause of action should be overruled or denied. Ward v. Tenneco Oil Company, 564 So.2d at 820; Bellah v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Ins. Co., 546 So.2d at 603. The purpose of sustaining an objection of no cause of action is to dismiss the entire cause of action and not just a part of it. McGowan v. Ramey, 484 So.2d 785, 790 (La.App. 1st Cir.1986). As such, there is no objection for a partial no cause of action; this prevents piecemeal litigation and avoids multiple appeals. Rodriguez v. American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida, 386 So.2d 652, 652-53 (La.1980); Ward v. Tenneco Oil Company, 564 So.2d at 820. However, several courts in this state have recognized that when two or more causes of action are set forth in a petition, an objection of no cause of action may be sustained with regard to one cause of action and overruled with regard to the other. Ward v. Tenneco Oil Company, 564 So.2d 814; Brumfield v. Miller, 554 So.2d 829 (La.App. 1st Cir.1989); Bordelon v. Cochrane, 533 So.2d 82; McGowan v. Ramey, 484 So.2d 785.

Pleading the objection of no cause of action in response to a petition setting forth one or more causes of action is distinguishable from attempting to use that objection to eliminate a claim for various forms of relief or to remove a particular theory of recovery from plaintiff's petition. For example, in McGowan v. Ramey, 484 So.2d 785, the plaintiff set forth numerous causes of action in her petition, including actions for battery, truth-in-lending violations, and unfair trade practices. Defendant filed an exception pleading the objection of no cause of action, addressing plaintiff's claim for the recovery of treble damages for the alleged unfair trade practice. In affirming the trial court judgment overruling the exception pleading the objection of no cause of action, this court noted that there was only one unfair trade practice cause of action set forth in plaintiff's petition and that the claim for treble damages was an accessory claim to that action. Thus, dismissing the claim for treble damages would not result in the dismissal of the cause of action for unfair trade practices. As such, the exception was the improper vehicle to eliminate an isolated claim of relief. Likewise, in Brumfield v. Miller, 554 So.2d 829, the plaintiff filed suit individually and on behalf of her minor child for damages sustained when the child was a patient at a local hospital. Plaintiff specifically sought damages for the child's mental anguish, physical pain and suffering, impairment of future earning capacity, and medical expenses after the age of majority. Plaintiff also requested damages for her own mental anguish and for the child's past and future medical expenses. The defendant filed an exception raising the objection of no cause of action on the grounds that the law does not provide a cause of action for the recovery of damages for mental anguish due to the personal *1273 injury of a third person. This court reversed the trial court judgment sustaining defendant's objection, noting that plaintiff had one tort cause of action comprised of two claims for damages, one for mental anguish and one for medical expenses.

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Related

Henry v. TACO-TIO, Inc.
614 So. 2d 772 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1993)
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593 So. 2d 1269, 1991 WL 317063, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/everything-on-wheels-subaru-v-subaru-south-lactapp-1992.