Joseph v. ENTERGY

972 So. 2d 1230, 2007 WL 4446927
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 5, 2007
Docket2007-CA-0688
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 972 So. 2d 1230 (Joseph v. ENTERGY) 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
Joseph v. ENTERGY, 972 So. 2d 1230, 2007 WL 4446927 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

972 So.2d 1230 (2007)

Nathaniel JOSEPH
v.
ENTERGY, et al.

No. 2007-CA-0688.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

December 5, 2007.

*1232 Philip C. Ciaccio, Jr., Gretna, LA, for Third Party Defendants/Appellants. Tristem, Ltd. and Joe Seeber.

Marcus V. Brown, Entergy Services, Inc., New Orleans, LA, and Marc D. Winsberg, William P. Gibbens, Schonekas, Winsberg, Evans & McGoey, L.L.C., New Orleans, LA, for Defendant/Appellee, Entergy New Orleans, Inc.

(Court composed of Judge PATRICIA RIVET MURRAY, Judge JAMES F. McKAY, III, Judge MAX N. TOBIAS, JR.).

PATRICIA RIVET MURRAY, Judge.

This appeal arises out of a contempt judgment. The trial court found the third party defendant, TriStem, Ltd., and its president, Joe Seeber, in contempt for a second time; ordered them to pay $1,000 in attorney's fees to the defendant, Entergy; and imposed a suspended forty-eight hour incarceration sentence on Mr. Seeber. We affirm the finding of contempt, but vacate the award of attorney's fees.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The underlying suit out of which the contempt judgment arises is a tort suit that was filed by Nathaniel Joseph against Entergy and the City of New Orleans. In that suit, Mr. Joseph sought to recover for injuries he sustained on March 18, 1996, when a light pole fell and hit him on his head. In that suit, Entergy filed a third party demand for indemnification against, among others, TriStem, a Texas consulting company. Entergy asserted in the third party demand that TriStem, while acting as a consultant to the City, performed an audit of the streetlights and failed to discover that the light pole in question was in disrepair. The trial court severed the third party demand and tried the case against Entergy and the City. A judgment was rendered finding only Entergy liable. This court affirmed the finding of liability on the part of Entergy in Joseph v. Entergy, 00-2213 (La.App. 4 Cir. 2/13/02), 811 So.2d 54. Entergy then proceeded with the third party indemnity action.

On June 22, 2004, Entergy filed a motion for protective order and contempt against TriStem alleging that its president, Mr. Seeber, sent correspondence to Entergy's audit committee making allegations of fraud against Entergy. Entergy also claimed that Mr. Seeber made inappropriate contact with the trial court judge, making unfounded allegations against Entergy. *1233 On August 5, 2004, the trial court granted Entergy's motion for protective order and ordered that "neither TriStem, Ltd. nor Joe Seeber shall have any contact with Entergy or its representatives other than its counsel of record in this action, outside of a formal setting such as a deposition or judicial forum."[1] TriStem and Mr. Seeber neither appealed nor collaterally attacked the August 5, 2004 protective order.

On September 30, 2004, Entergy filed its first contempt motion against TriStem and Mr. Seeber. Entergy alleged that Mr. Seeber had continued sending correspondence to representatives of Entergy making allegations against Entergy of fraud and mismanagement in violation of the trial court's August 5, 2004 protective order. On October 25, 2004, the trial court rendered judgment holding TriStem and Mr. Seeber in contempt and ordering them to pay Entergy $5,000.00 in attorney's fees. We affirmed the trial court's earlier finding of contempt, but remanded on the issue of attorney's fees, reasoning that "we can find no authority for allowing a court to order payment of attorney fees in lieu of a contempt fine. As it is unclear from the record before this Court as to the intent of the trial court, we remand the matter for clarification." Joseph v. Entergy, 05-0263 (La.App. 4 Cir. 8/3/05), 918 So.2d 47.

On May 4, 2005, the trial court granted TriStem's motion for summary judgment, dismissing it from the underlying suit. On June 4, 2005, Entergy took a devolutive appeal from that judgment, which is still pending.

On July 21, 2005, Entergy filed a second contempt motion. This motion was based on correspondence dated June 23, 2005 that Mr. Seeber sent to Entergy's audit committee. Enclosed with the correspondence was a copy of the prologue to the Mr. Seeber's then soon to be published book entitled "Wired for Greed." In the prologue to the book, Mr. Seeber recites the facts of the Joseph case.

As noted above, on August 3, 2005, we rendered our decision affirming the trial court's judgment granting Entergy first contempt motion, but remanding for a clarification of the attorney's fee award. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the New Orleans area.

On October 25, 2006, Entergy filed a third contempt motion in which it incorporated the arguments it raised in its pending second motion. In addition, Entergy asserted that Mr. Seeber had sent correspondence dated October 3, 2006 to Entergy audit committee members in which he referenced the Joseph litigation; particularly, the letter states:

To help inform the Court how Entergy is capable of such a malevolent act, we will advise them of the lawsuit. Entergy has filed against TriStem. TriStem has never had any contractual obligation to do anything for Entergy. TriStem has never contracted with anyone to assess the structural integrity of street light poles. None-the-less, Entergy filed suit against TriStem because of a street light that fell oil a man in New Orleans. A clear case of legal harassment.

"At the February 9, 2007 hearing on the third contempt motion, Mr. Seeber acknowledged in his testimony that the above-quoted excerpt from his October 3, *1234 2006 letter was a reference to the Joseph case.

Following the hearing, the trial court found the actions of TriStem and Mr. Seeber to be in violation of its August 5, 2004 protective order and to be acts of constructive contempt under La. C.C.P. art. 224(2). The trial court further ordered in its judgment that TriStem and Mr. Seeber pay to Entergy $1,000 in attorney's fees, and pursuant to La. R.S. 13:4611, that Mr. Seeber serve forty-eight hours of incarceration. However, the trial court suspended the order of incarceration.[2] The trial court also addressed in its judgment this court's August 3, 2005 order remanding for clarification of the trial court's October 25, 2004 award of attorney's fees. Pursuant to La. R.S. 13:4611, the trial court fined TriStem and Mr. Seeber $500 for that prior finding of contempt.[3] This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

On appeal, TriStem and Mr. Seeber raise three assignments of error: (i) the trial court lacked jurisdiction to enforce the protective order; (ii) the trial court erred in finding the actions of TriStem and Mr. Seeber constituted constructive contempt; and (iii) the trial' court erred in awarding attorney's fees to Entergy. We separately address each issue.

(i) trial court's jurisdiction to enforce protective order

TriStem and Mr. Seeber argue that the trial court's judgment granting TriStem's motion for summary judgment, from which Entergy took a devolutive appeal, divested the trial court of jurisdiction to entertain Entergy's third contempt motion. In support they cite La. C.C.P. art. 2088, which provides that a trial court is divested of jurisdiction over "all matters in the case reviewable under the appeal." La. C.C.P. art.2088.[4] They contend that because the trial court's judgment granting TriStem's motion for summary judgment *1235

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972 So. 2d 1230, 2007 WL 4446927, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/joseph-v-entergy-lactapp-2007.