Fiveash v. Pat O'Brien's Bar, Inc.

201 So. 3d 912, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 1230, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 1649
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 14, 2016
DocketNO. 2015-CA-1230
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 201 So. 3d 912 (Fiveash v. Pat O'Brien's Bar, Inc.) 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
Fiveash v. Pat O'Brien's Bar, Inc., 201 So. 3d 912, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 1230, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 1649 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinions

Judge Terri F. Love

|, Mary Fiveash (“Ms. Fiveash”) appeals the trial court’s judgment granting partial summary judgment in favor of Pat O’Brien’s Bar, Inc., and its insurer Evans-[914]*914ton Insurance Company (collectively “Defendants”) dismissing with. prejudice her spoliation of evidence claim. The trial court found Ms. Fiveash failed to present any evidence to establish that Defendants intentionally destroyed evidence with the purpose of depriving her of its use at trial. Louisiana jurisprudence-has held summary judgment based on subjective facts like intent is rarely appropriate. The trial court incorrectly relied on self-serving and con-clusory affidavits that Defendants offered in support of their motion to conclude that no genuine issue of material fact exists as to intent. Based on the factual allegations and supporting evidence presented, reasonable minds may disagree as to Defendants’ motive and intent in failing to preserve the evidence in' this case. In that genuine issues of material fact exist- as to the intentional spoliation of evidence, we find summary judgment inappropriate.

Further, in that the trial court did not designate its judgment as a final 12appealable judgment, and it did not dispose of all Ms. Fiveash’s claims, we invoke this Court’s supervisory jurisdiction and convert the appeal to an application for supervisory review. Accordingly,-we grant the application for supervisory review, reverse the trial court’s judgment granting Defendants’ motion for partial summary judgment on the intentional spoliation issue, and remand for further proceedings.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

This appeal arises from a lawsuit filed by Ms. Fiveash for injuries she claims to have sustained in a fall - on January 14, 2014, at Pat O’Brien’s. Ms. Fiveash alleges that the fall occurred on a step in the entranceway. to the piano bar, and the fall caused her to sustain a spiral break of her right humerus bone as well as other serious bodily injuries.

Gary O’Brien (“Mr. O’Brien”), head of maintenance at Pat O’Brien’s, testified that over the course of his employment he was aware of the step’s deteriorating condition. He testified that he installed a metal threshold sometime before Hurricane Katrina after Defendants noticed the step’s tiles were worn thin as a result of heavy foot traffic. He also stated that approximately twice in ten years he made repairs to the tile of the step, removing loose pieces of tile and patching the void with cement. He further noted that he “regrout-ed on a regular basis” as deterioration of the building’s flagstone was a regular issue.

.On July 11, 2014, Ms. Fiveash filed a petition for damages claiming Defendants are liable for the injuries she sustained when she fell exiting the piano bar. On September 12, 2014, counsel for Ms. Fi-veash began making repeated requests for an inspection of the step by Ms. Fiveash’s construction expert Steve Owens (“Mr. Owens”). On October 24, 2014, the parties agreed to conduct the [^expert inspection on November 24, 2014. However, on or about October 24, 2014, the step sustained damage when a garbage can on a platform with casters was dragged into the piano bar hitting the face of the step. As a result, the metal threshold became loose, which Mr. O’Brien testified posed a safety issue for Pat O’Briens’ patrons and required repair.

On October 80, 2014, counsel for Defendants notified counsel for Ms. Fiveash of the damage and intended repair before the Halloween weekend and sent photographs of the damaged step. Ms. Fiveash alleges on appeal that assurances were made during the October 30, 2014 conversation that there was no need to expedite the November 24, 2014 expert inspection. Counsel for Defendants assured counsel for Ms. Fi-veash that the step would be repaired to [915]*915the “identical condition” it was in before the garbage can incident. Confirmation of the conversation was sent in an email on November 26, 2014, from Ms. Fiveash’s counsel to counsel for Defendants.

On November 6, 2014, counsel for Defendants informed Ms. Fiveash’s counsel that the repairs were not made- in advance of the Halloween weekend and would not take place until November 10, 2014. The next day, Ms. Fiveash’s counsel visited the site and took photographs of the step which were submitted as a supplemental response to discovery requests. The -repairs were ultimately made on November 10, 2014, seventeen days after the garbage can incident. Mr. Owens’ expert inspection of the newly repaired step took place as scheduled on November 24,2014.

Based on the altered condition of the step, Ms. Fiveash filed an amended petition asserting a claim for spoliation of evidence on December 19, 2014. Specifically, she claimed Defendants’ actions impaired her liability claim by 1 ¿intentionally destroying the condition of the step, which is the subject of her cause of action. Defendants subsequently filed a motion for partial summary judgment alleging that the condition of the step was not destroyed or repaired with the intent to deprive Ms. Fiveash of its use at trial. They claimed that Ms. Fiveash is unable to prove intent because she relies on “nothing but allegations” and mischaracterization of correspondence between counsel. Moreover, they allege that the repairs did not substantially alter the step and were merely “cosmetic changes.” In support of its motion, Defendants submitted Ms.’ Fiveash’s deposition, photographs of-the step, Mr. O’Brien’s deposition, Defendants’ expert witness affidavit and report, and the affidavits of both Mr. O’Brien and Gerald Engel (“Mr. Engel”), the chief financial officer of Pat O’Brien’s.

Ms. Fiveash filed an opposition and cross-motion for partial summary judgment, claiming the undisputed facts support granting summary judgment in her favor as to the spoliation issue. She avers that a comparison of the before and after photographs shows a noticeable difference in the appearance of the step. Despite Defendants’ assurances, the photographs show that the step was not repaired to the identical condition, nor was the repair “merely cosmetic in nature.” To support her contention, Ms. Fiveash attached to her opposition and cross-motion the deposition testimony of Defendants’ two managers and its head of maintenance, the before and after photographs, her expert’s inspection report, and email correspondence between counsel.

Ms. Fiveash claimed in her cross-motion for summary judgment that there are no disputed facts in this case, only “disputes as to the legal conclusions based on these facts.” In particular, she -stated that the undisputed facts show Defendants had a duty to maintain the condition of the step; it destroyed the step as -the repairs 15were not made to, an identical condition; it failed to adequately explain the destruction of the step’s condition; the destruction .impaired Ms. Fiveash’s claim that the condition .of the step was the cause of her fall; and the repair was motivated by a desire to deprive her of the step’s condition.as evidence at trial. Even if the undisputed facts set forth on summary judgment were not sufficient to prove intentional spoliation, she asserted that at the very least the evidence is sufficient to establish genuine issues of material fact exist to preclude granting Defendants’ motion for partial summary judgment.

Thereafter, a hearing on the motions was held. The trial court granted Defendants’ motion for partial summary judgment as to the spoliation issue, denied Ms. [916]*916Fiveash’s cross-motion for partial summary judgment, and dismissed with prejudice Ms.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
201 So. 3d 912, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 1230, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 1649, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fiveash-v-pat-obriens-bar-inc-lactapp-2016.