Hanson v. Steven Caruso, Willow Creek, L.L.C.

182 So. 3d 1187, 15 La.App. 5 Cir. 449, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 2697, 2015 WL 9434405
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 23, 2015
DocketNo. 15-CA-449
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 182 So. 3d 1187 (Hanson v. Steven Caruso, Willow Creek, L.L.C.) 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
Hanson v. Steven Caruso, Willow Creek, L.L.C., 182 So. 3d 1187, 15 La.App. 5 Cir. 449, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 2697, 2015 WL 9434405 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, Chief Judge.

|2On appeal, the appellant seeks.review of the trial- court’s ruling maintaining defendants’ exception of no cause of action. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

On September 26, 2012, -.a fatal fire occurred at the Willow Creek Apartments1 in Grand Isle, Louisiana. As a result of that fire, two occupants of the apartments, Belle Christin Brandi and Timothy Joseph Foret, were killed.

On September 25, 2013, three of Mr. Foret’s sisters — Sandra Hanson, Yvonne Grizzaffi, and Patricia Foret — filed a petition seeking damages for his wrongful death against the apartments’ owners, Steven Caruso and Willow Creek, L.L.C., and their insurers, as well as the State of Louisiana through the Department of Public Sáféty'and Corrections, Office of the State' Fire Marshal (hereinafter “SFM”) and, its employee, Nunzio Marchiafava (hereinafter “the inspector”).2 In their petition, Mr. Foret’s sisters alleged that, in March of April of 2012, the |-¡inspector failed to properly investigate reports of a fire hazard at 'the apartments that resulted in the fatal fire of September 26, 2012; failed to advise the building’s owners of a fire hazard; failed to bring the required action against the building’s owners to resolve the fire hazard; and falsified reports regarding his investigation of the building. The petition alleged that, as a result of the inspector’s negligence and SFM’s negligence in supervising the inspector, the fire occurred and caused Mr. Foret’s wrongful death and the sisters’ damages.

On September 9, 2014, SFM and the inspector answered the petition denying the allegations on the basis that the inspector did investigate an unverified public complaint at the building on April 2, 2012, which did not require a, second site visit, as the inspection revealed “no serious life hazards.” According to ,SFM, the residents of the building did not register complaints of a fire hazard at the building.

On November 6, 2014, two of Mr. For-et’s sisters — Yvonne Grizzaffi and Patricia [1190]*1190Foret — moved to dismiss all of their claims; including those against SFM and the inspector. The trial judge 'granted them motion on November 10, 2014.

Subsequently, SFM and the. inspector filed an exception of no cause of action on the basis that the petition failed to allege a duty owed and/or breached by the inspector and the SFM to these particular plaintiffs, relying specifically on Dufrene v. Guarino, 343 So.2d. 1097 (La.App. 4th Cir.1977), writ denied, 343 So.2d 1068. On February. 25, 2015, the trial ‘judge heard and granted the exception. On March 11, 2015, the trial judge signed the written judgment granting the exception and allowing the plaintiffs 30 days to amend their petition as required by La. C.C.P. art. 934. On motion of SFM and the inspector, the matter was dismissed on April 23, 2015. This appeal by Mr. Foret’s sister, Sandra Hanson, follows.

| JLaw and Argument

In Ramey v. DeCaire, 03-1299, pp. 7-8 (La.3/19/04), 869 So.2d 114, 118-19, our supreme court discussed the peremptory exception of no cause of action and the scope of appellate review thereof as follows: ; ■ ...

A' cause of action, when used in the context of the per&hptory exception, is defined as the operative facts that give rise to the plaintiffs right to judicially assert the action against the defendant Everything on Wheels Subaru, Inc. v. Subaru South, Inc., 616 So.2d 1234, 1238 (La.1993). The function of the peremptory exception of no cause of action is to test the legal sufficiency of the petition, which is done by determining whether the law affords a remedy on the facts alleged in the pleading. Id. at 1235. No evidence may be introduced to support or controvert an exception of no cause of action. La. C.C.P. art. 931. Consequently, the court reviews the petition and accepts well-pleaded allegations of fact as true. Jackson v. State ex rel. Dept. of Corrections, 00-2882, p. 3 (La.5/15/01), 785 So.2d 803, 806; Everything on Wheels Subaru, 616 So.2d at 1235. The issue at the trial of the exception is whether, on the face of the petition, the plaintiff is legally entitled to the relief sought. Montalvo v. Sondes, 93-2813, p. 6 (La.5/23/94), 637 So.2d 127, 131.
Louisiana has chosen a system of fact pleading. La. C.C.P. art; 854 cmt. (a); Montalvo at p. 6, 637 So.2d at 131. Therefore, it is not necessary for a plaintiff to plead the theory of his case in the petition. Kizer v. Lilly, 471 So.2d 716, 719 (La.1985). However, the mere conclusions of the plaintiff unsupported by facts does not set forth a cause of action. Montalvo at p. 6, 637 So.2d at 131.
The burden of demonstrating that the petition states no cause of action is upon the mover. City of New Orleans v. Board of Com’rs of Orleans Levee Dist., 93-0690, p. 28 (La.7/5/94), 640 So.2d 237, 253. In reviewing the judgment of the district court relating to an exception of no cause of action, appellate courts should conduct a de novo review because the exception raises a question of law and the lower court’s decision is based solely on the sufficiency of the petition. Fink v. Bryant, 01-0987, p. 4 (La.11/28/01), 801 So.2d 346, 349; City of New Orleans at p. 28, 640 So.2d at 253. The pertinent question is whether, in the light most favorable to plaintiff and with every doubt resolved in plaintiffs behalf, the petition states any valid cause of action for relief. City of New Orleans at p. 29, 640 So.2d at 253.

Ramey, 869 So.2d at 118-120.

The crux of Mr. Foret’s sister’s claims against the SFM and the inspector [1191]*1191is that the inspector failed to inspect a building that later caught'fire and caused the deaths of two people. Accepting the allegations in Mr. Foret’s sister’s petition as hbeing true, we agree with the trial court’s finding that the petition does not contain sufficient facts to state a cause of action in negligence.

In 1985, the Louisiana Legislature adopted La. R.S. 9:2798.1,3 which exempts public entities from liability for their employees’ discretionary or policy-making acts. Hardy v. Bowie, 98-2821 (La.9/08/99), 744 So.2d 606, 618; Sunlake Apartment Residents v. Tonti Development Corp., 522 So.2d 1298, 1304 (La.App. 5th Cir.1988). “Under [the discretionary function] doctrine, governmental decision-makers exercising discretionary functions are immune from suit, because the courts should not chill legislative discretion in policy formation by imposing tort liability for discretionary decision.” Hardy, supra.

Where, as,here, the defendants are public agencies, that governmental entity is exempt from liability for the negligence of its officers or employees, if it is a duty owed to the general public as opposed to a duty owed to an individual plaintiff.' Dufrene v. Guarino, supra. See also, Stewart v. Schmieder, 386 So.2d 1351 (La.1980); Sunlake, supra.

In this case, we find that SFM through its employee, the inspector, was performing’ a discretionary act as contemplated by La. R.S. 9:2798.1, which is a[fiduty owed to the general public. 'La. R.S.

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Bluebook (online)
182 So. 3d 1187, 15 La.App. 5 Cir. 449, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 2697, 2015 WL 9434405, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hanson-v-steven-caruso-willow-creek-llc-lactapp-2015.