Giannouleas v. Phoenix Maritime Agencies

525 So. 2d 1067, 1988 WL 15834
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 2, 1988
DocketCA 86 1658
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 525 So. 2d 1067 (Giannouleas v. Phoenix Maritime Agencies) 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
Giannouleas v. Phoenix Maritime Agencies, 525 So. 2d 1067, 1988 WL 15834 (La. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

525 So.2d 1067 (1988)

Dimitrios GIANNOULEAS
v.
PHOENIX MARITIME AGENCIES, INC., et al.

No. CA 86 1658.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

February 23, 1988.
Rehearing Denied March 30, 1988.
Writ Granted June 2, 1988.

Paul H. Dué, Charles W. Roberts, Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellant Dimitrios Giannouleas.

Ashton R. O'Dwyer, Jr., New Orleans, for defendant-appellee Phoenix Maritime Agencies, Inc., et al.

Before COVINGTON, C.J., and SAVOIE and LeBLANC, JJ.

COVINGTON, Chief Judge.

This appeal primarily presents the question of whether the courts of this state may entertain a suit by a Greek seaman against his Panamanian-Greek employer, its foreign insurer, and its U.S. agent for injuries the seaman received while on shore leave in this state. Because we find that the exercise of personal jurisdiction over the defendants in this instance would exceed the limits of Due Process, we affirm the dismissal of plaintiff's case by the trial court.

FACTS

The material facts are not in dispute. On November 15, 1981, the M/V STAMY, under Greek flag, was anchored in the Mississippi River in St. Charles Parish near St. Rose, Louisiana. Plaintiff was employed *1068 at the time as third engineer aboard the vessel by Cosmian Compania Naviera S.A. (Cosmian), a corporation domiciled in Panama, but with its principal office and sole base of operations in Piraeus, Greece, which also owned the vessel. Plaintiff went ashore that afternoon with two other crew members and spent the evening in New Orleans, where he admittedly became extremely intoxicated. He and his companions returned to St. Charles Parish via taxi, where plaintiff allegedly refused to accompany them aboard the STAMY, announcing his intention to return to New Orleans. The other two crew members returned to the ship, and plaintiff was found by St. Charles Parish sheriff's deputies several hours later injured and unconscious by a roadside near the ship's landing. Plaintiff does not remember any details of the incident after leaving New Orleans. Two theories have been presented by plaintiff for his injuries: (1) he was struck by a car, or (2) he was attacked by a group of black people for unknown reasons.

Plaintiff filed a claim against his employer Cosmian in the Court of First Instance of Piraeus, the Greek trial court for worker's compensation benefits under Greek law on December 8, 1982. The court there found that plaintiff was not eligible for compensation since "the circumstances of his injury do not constitute a labor accident in the meaning of Art. 1 of Art. 551/15," the provision of Greek law which the parties herein agree covers labor disputes, including those between maritime workers and their employers. The court further stated, "the real circumstances which led to plaintiff's injury, whether it was caused by an automobile accident or by attack by some unknown persons, are not necessarily related to his maritime employment and its consequences. They might have occurred irrespective of it." This decision was handed down on April 4, 1983. Plaintiff appealed that decision on June 9, 1983, to the Piraeus Court of Appeal. Plaintiff later voluntarily dismissed this appeal.

Meanwhile, plaintiff filed suit in East Baton Rouge Parish on July 18, 1984, two years and eight months after his injuries, against his employer, Cosmian, its protection and indemnity insurer, United Kingdom Mutual Steam Ship Assurance Association (Bermuda) Ltd., and Phoenix Maritime Agencies, Inc., a New York corporation which sometimes acted as agent for the STAMY when the vessel called at certain U.S. ports. Neither the insurer nor the vessel agent is authorized or licensed to do business within this state, nor does either maintain any office in the state.

Defendants filed exceptions raising objections of lack of procedural capacity of the plaintiff, lis pendens, improper venue, lack of personal jurisdiction, lack of subject matter jurisdiction, no right of action, no cause of action, and prescription. Hearings were held on May 31, 1985, January 24, 1986, and March 7, 1986, on the exceptions, and on June 19, 1986, the trial court rendered judgment dismissing plaintiff's action. The judgment reads, "Considering the exceptions filed on behalf of defendants in the above-styled and numbered cause, and particularly the exception of lis pendens, judgment is hereby rendered...." After plaintiff's motion for new trial was denied by the trial court, he filed this devolutive appeal, contending that the trial judge incorrectly based the dismissal on the exception of lis pendens when that exception does not apply here. Plaintiff points to the following language of the trial judge in his written reasons for judgment in support of his argument: "This is a proper case for maintaining an exception of lis pendens, and the court so holds. Judgment is rendered maintaining that exception and dismissing the suit at plaintiff's costs."

ARGUMENT

Defendants maintain that the dismissal was proper based on all of the exceptions raised below, not just lis pendens, as well as on the basis of res judicata, which objection was raised for the first time on appeal under LSA-C.C.P. Art. 2163 and 927. Thus, counsel for both parties have ably and extensively briefed arguments pertaining to the applicability of federal procedural rules to a maritime action in a state court, choice of law (Greek or United States), finality of judgments under Greek law where an appeal has been voluntarily dismissed, causes of action under the Jones *1069 Act and general maritime law, and of course, lis pendens and res judicata, to name some of the issues raised. While all of these issues are viable on the merits of this case, we find ourselves unable to reach the merits because of grave problems with jurisdiction over the persons of the defendants in light of the pronouncements of the U.S. Supreme Court in Asahi Metal Industry Co., Ltd. v. Superior Court of California, Solano County, 480 U.S. 102, 107 S.Ct. 1026, 94 L.Ed.2d 92 (1987) and Burger King Corporation v. Rudzewicz, 471 U.S. 462, 105 S.Ct. 2174, 85 L.Ed.2d 528 (1985).

LAW

As all three defendants are nonresidents, two of them being of foreign nationality, plaintiffs seek to invoke jurisdiction under La.R.S. 13:3201, Louisiana's Long-Arm Statute.[1] A dual analysis is required to determine whether Louisiana has personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant under La.R.S. 13:3201. First, the facts of the case must fit within one of the provisions of the Long-Arm Statute. Second, the assertion of jurisdiction must comport with constitutional due process standards. McBead Drilling Company v. Kremco, Ltd., 509 So.2d 429, 431 (La.1987). We begin our discussion with the second prong of the analysis, as it obviates the need for discussion of the first prong.

The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment limits the power of a state court to exert personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant. Asahi Metal Industry Co., Ltd. v. Superior Court of California, Solano County, 480 U.S. 102, 107 S.Ct. 1026, 1031, 94 L.Ed.2d 92 (1987).

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Related

Delaune v. Saint Marine Transportation Co.
749 F. Supp. 1463 (E.D. Louisiana, 1990)
Giannouleas v. Phoenix Maritime Agencies, Inc.
529 So. 2d 1300 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1988)

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525 So. 2d 1067, 1988 WL 15834, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/giannouleas-v-phoenix-maritime-agencies-lactapp-1988.