James v. Our Lady of Lourdes, Inc.

261 So. 3d 921
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 12, 2018
Docket18-368
StatusPublished

This text of 261 So. 3d 921 (James v. Our Lady of Lourdes, 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
James v. Our Lady of Lourdes, Inc., 261 So. 3d 921 (La. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

SAUNDERS, Judge.

This is a case involving an alleged slip and fall at a hospital. The Plaintiff's case was dismissed via summary judgment based on her inability to prove the notice requirement under La.R.S. 9:2800.6(B) in order to find fault by the hospital. Days prior to the hearing on the motion for summary judgment, Plaintiff requested a continuance and leave of court to amend and supplement her petition. The trial court denied the motion for continuance without a hearing and denied the request for leave of court to amend and supplement her petition. Thereafter, the trial court granted defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the claim with prejudice.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY:

On December 23, 2014, Mona James, (Appellant) went to Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center in Lafayette to visit her sister who was a patient in the intensive care unit located on the third floor of the hospital. After visiting her sister, Appellant alleges that she slipped and fell due to a foreign substance on the floor. As a result of the alleged slip and fall, on November 12, 2015, Appellant filed suit against Our Lady of Lourdes Inc. (Appellee).

On December 21, 2015, Appellee answered the suit denying all allegations specifically stating that it had no notice of any *923condition which allegedly caused Appellant to slip and fall, a requirement for a finding of fault under La.R.S. 9:2800.6(B). After the parties had adequate time to conduct discovery on the issues present in this case, on May 25, 2017, Appellee filed a motion for summary judgment. It was based on the assertion that Appellant could not meet her burden to prove at trial that Appellee created the alleged hazardous condition or had actual or constructive notice of the condition and failed to exercise reasonable care.

In support of its motion, Appellee submitted the deposition testimony of Appellant who admitted that she did not know where the substance came from or for how long it was there. Further, Appellee submitted affidavits from multiple hospital employees that attested to no reports of spills or water on the floor the day of the alleged fall and to no reports or records of substances on the floor from any maintenance issues that day. Finally, Appellee submitted affidavits that the floors in that area were cleaned twice daily per housekeeping regulations and that all hospital employees monitor the floors and are to report any potential hazards.

Appellant did not respond to Appellee's motion until a few days before the hearing was scheduled by filing a motion for leave of court to supplement and amend her petition and by filing a motion for a continuance. On the same day these requests were made by the Appellant, the trial court denied the requests. The next day, the Friday before the hearing which was scheduled the following Monday morning, Appellant filed an opposition to Appellee's motion for summary judgment.

Appellee's counsel attended the Monday hearing while Appellant's counsel did not. After considering the pleadings and evidence submitted, the trial court granted Appellee's motion. Appellant filed the present appeal and presents two issues for this court to review.

ISSUES PRESENTED FOR REVIEW:

1. Whether the trial court erred by denying the Appellant's [m]otion to continue and motion for leave of court [to] file her amended petition without a hearing; and
3. Whether the trial court erred by granting the Appellee's [ ] [m]otion for [s]ummary [j]udgment.

ISSUE PRESENTED FOR REVIEW NUMBER ONE :

Appellant urges in her first assignment of error that the trial court erred by denying her motion to continue and motion for leave of court to file her amended petition without a hearing. We find no merit to these claims.

The peremptory grounds for a motion to continue are found in La.Code Civ.P. art. 1602, which states that:
A continuance shall be granted if at the time a case is to be tried, the party applying for the continuance shows that he has been unable, with the exercise of due diligence, to obtain evidence material to his case; or that a material witness has absented himself without the contrivance of the party applying for the continuance.
Absent one of those grounds, the discretionary grounds for a continuance are delineated in La.Code Civ.P. art. 1601, which states that "[a] continuance may be granted in any case if there is good ground therefor." The trial court has wide discretion in ruling on a motion for continuance, and that ruling will not be disturbed absent a clear showing of abuse of discretion. Succession of Stark , 06-190 (La.App. 3 Cir. 7/5/06), 934 So.2d 901 (citing Sauce v. Bussell , 298 So.2d 832 (La.1974) ). The decision to grant or *924deny a continuance is dependent on the facts of the case and may include consideration of such factors as diligence, good faith, reasonable grounds, fairness to both parties, and the need for the orderly administration of justice. Ardoin v. Bourgeois , 04-1663 (La.App. 3 Cir. 11/2/05), 916 So.2d 329. Another factor which may be considered is the defendant's right to have his case heard as soon as practicable. Gilcrease v. Bacarisse , 26,318 (La.App. 2 Cir. 12/7/94), 647 So.2d 1219, writ denied , 95-0421 (La. 3/30/95), 651 So.2d 845 (citing Lambert v. Heirs of Adams , 325 So.2d 331 (La.App. 3 Cir.1975), writ denied , 329 So.2d 458 (1976) ). "However, this discretion may not be exercised arbitrarily, where a denial of a continuance founded on a good-faith ground may deprive a litigant of his day in court." Powell v. Giddens , 271 So.2d 596, 597 (La.App. 1 Cir.1972).

Succession of Harrell v. Erris-Omega Plantation, Inc. , 12-696, pp. 7-8 (La.App. 3 Cir. 12/5/12), 104 So.3d 751, 756-57, writ denied , 13-438 (La. 4/5/13), 110 So.3d 595

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Bluebook (online)
261 So. 3d 921, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/james-v-our-lady-of-lourdes-inc-lactapp-2018.