Green v. Iberia Parish School Board

945 So. 2d 940, 215 Educ. L. Rep. 1271, 6 La.App. 3 Cir. 1060, 2006 La. App. LEXIS 2876
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 20, 2006
Docket06-1060
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 945 So. 2d 940 (Green v. Iberia Parish School Board) 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
Green v. Iberia Parish School Board, 945 So. 2d 940, 215 Educ. L. Rep. 1271, 6 La.App. 3 Cir. 1060, 2006 La. App. LEXIS 2876 (La. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

945 So.2d 940 (2006)

Maureen GREEN
v.
IBERIA PARISH SCHOOL BOARD.

No. 06-1060.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

December 20, 2006.

*941 J. Wayne Landry, Assistant District Attorney, New Iberia, LA, for Defendant/Appellee, Iberia Parish School Board.

Maureen Green, St. Martinville, LA, Plaintiff/Appellant, Maureen Green, In Proper Person.

Court composed of SYLVIA R. COOKS, MARC T. AMY, and JAMES T. GENOVESE, Judges.

*942 AMY, Judge.

The plaintiff, a former employee of the defendant school board, filed suit seeking damages related to what she claims was discrimination and retaliation stemming from her earlier allegations of sexual harassment. The trial court granted the school board's exception of res judicata, due to previous proceedings in federal court, and dismissed the matter. The trial court also granted the school board's request that the plaintiff be enjoined from filing further proceedings related to her discharge from employment. The plaintiff appeals. We affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

The record indicates that the plaintiff, Maureen Greene[1], is a former employee of the Iberia Parish School Board (School Board). The School Board terminated Ms. Greene's employment as a cafeteria worker in mid-1997. Thereafter, Ms. Greene pursued litigation against the School Board in federal court due to her allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation. These federal court proceedings were resolved in favor of the School Board.[2]

In a petition filed in the Sixteenth Judicial District in October 2005, Ms. Greene again named the School Board as a defendant and sought damages stemming from what she asserts was "intentional illegal discrimination and retaliation[.]" The School Board responded to the petition with exceptions of no cause of action, res judicata, prescription, venue, lack of personal jurisdiction, and nonconformity of the petition. The School Board also filed a Rule for Protective Order, Injunction and Sanctions and asserted that Ms. Greene was in bad faith in pursuing litigation against it. The School Board alleged that this violation of La.Code Civ.P. art. 863(B) entitled it to sanctions, including an injunction prohibiting Ms. Greene from filing further claims against it related to her dismissal from employment.

The trial court heard the matter and granted the exception of res judicata and dismissed Ms. Greene's petition on March 30, 2006. The judgment provides:

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the School Board's exception of res judicata is hereby maintained and granted and that plaintiff's petition is hereby dismissed with prejudice. Having disposed of the entire proceedings, the Court deems it unnecessary to rule on the other pending motions at this time but if it had been called upon to do so, all of the remaining exceptions would have been granted in favor of the School Board.

The trial court further considered the School Board's rule for a protective order and concluded that Ms. Greene's filing was in bad faith and sanctionable pursuant to La.Code Civ.P. art. 863(D). The trial court prohibited and enjoined Ms. Greene from filing further proceedings against the School Board related to the termination of her employment and instructed the Clerk of Court of the Sixteenth Judicial District not to file any case/claims from the plaintiff against the School Board without the *943 permission of the Chief Judge of the Sixteenth Judicial District Court. The trial court also assessed court costs against Ms. Greene.

Ms. Greene appeals these judgments. Much of Ms. Greene's brief generally revisits the merits of her case rather than specifically assigning errors related to the trial court's judgment. On review, we address those portions of the brief that could be construed as relating to the granting of the exception of res judicata and the determination that sanctions and a protective order were appropriate due to a finding that the filings were in bad faith.

Discussion

Res Judicata

As noted above, the School Board filed an exception of res judicata and alleged that the causes of action advanced in Ms. Greene's petition were the same as those adjudged in federal court in two separate proceedings. The trial court granted the exception of res judicata.

The courts of this state have repeatedly confirmed that federal law is applicable to consideration of whether a federal court judgment has res judicata effect. See Terrebonne Fuel & Lube, Inc. v. Placid Ref. Co., 95-0654 (La.1/16/96), 666 So.2d 624; Reeder v. Succession of Palmer, 623 So.2d 1268 (La.1993); Bobby and Ray Williams P'ship, L.L.P. v. Shreveport Louisiana Hayride Co., L.L.C., 38,866 (La. App. 2 Cir. 9/22/04), 882 So.2d 676, writ denied, 04-2636 (La.12/17/04), 888 So.2d 875; McCollough v. Dauzat, 98-1293 (La. App. 3 Cir. 3/3/99), 736 So.2d 914. As explained in Terrebonne Fuel & Lube, 666 So.2d at 633, federal res judicata law indicates that a judgment bars a subsequent suit if the following requirements are satisfied: "1) both cases involve the same parties; 2) the prior judgment was rendered by a court of competent jurisdiction; 3) the prior decision was a final judgment on the merits; and 4) the same cause of action is at issue in both cases." There are, however, exceptions to the law of res judicata. Id. Namely, the law of res judicata may be inapplicable if there is an express reservation of a claim that the defendant acquiesces in or if the court in the first action expressly reserves the plaintiff's right to pursue a subsequent action. Id.

We have reviewed the petition in this case in light of the filings contained in the record related to Ms. Greene's federal court suits against the School Board. All of the elements necessary for application of res judicata are satisfied and none of the exceptions are present. Thus, we find no error in the trial court's determination that the federal court judgments, rendered in 2000 and 2004, bar Ms. Greene's present case. In fact, the 2004 federal court judgment granted summary judgment in favor of the School Board due, in part, to the res judicata effect of the 2000 judgment. The remaining ground for the granting of the motion for summary judgment was the expiration of the applicable prescriptive periods, including those applicable to Ms. Greene's state law claims brought in the federal court.

As noted in the federal court's Memorandum Ruling in 2004, the state law claims raised in federal court related to the allegation that the School Board was responsible for Ms. Greene's "bankruptcy, divorce, failed marriage, and lack of credibility." These same charges are reflected in the petition in this case. However, insofar as Ms. Greene may assert that her state law claims now differ, the supreme court has explained that federal law demands that:

[I]f a set of facts gives rise to a claim based on both state and federal law, and the plaintiff brings the action in federal court which had "pendent" jurisdiction to hear the state cause of action, but the *944 plaintiff fails or refuses to assert his state law claim, res judicata prevents him from subsequently asserting the state claim in a state court action, unless the federal court clearly would not have had jurisdiction to entertain the omitted state claim, or, having jurisdiction, clearly would have declined to exercise it as a matter of discretion.

Terrebonne Fuel & Lube, 666 So.2d at 633 (quoting

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945 So. 2d 940, 215 Educ. L. Rep. 1271, 6 La.App. 3 Cir. 1060, 2006 La. App. LEXIS 2876, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/green-v-iberia-parish-school-board-lactapp-2006.