Lafayette Parish School Bd. v. Cormier

901 So. 2d 1197
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 4, 2005
Docket2005-05
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 901 So. 2d 1197 (Lafayette Parish School Bd. v. Cormier) 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
Lafayette Parish School Bd. v. Cormier, 901 So. 2d 1197 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

901 So.2d 1197 (2005)

LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL BOARD
v.
Darlene M. CORMIER, on Behalf of her Minor Child, Jade CORMIER.

No. 2005-05.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

May 4, 2005.

*1198 L. Lane Roy, Brian T. Roy, Preis, Kraft & Roy, Lafayette, LA for Plaintiff/Appellant, Lafayette Parish School Board.

Marshall M. Redmon, Holly G. Hanson, Phelps, Dunbar, LLP, Baton Rouge, LA, for Defendant/Appellee, Darlene M. Cormier.

Court composed of OSWALD A. DECUIR, ELIZABETH A. PICKETT, and JAMES T. GENOVESE, Judges.

PICKETT, Judge.

The plaintiff, the Lafayette Parish School Board, appeals a judgment of the trial court granting the defendant's, Darlene Cormier's, motion for summary judgment and dismissing the plaintiff's suit with prejudice and at the plaintiff's costs.

FACTS

The facts of the case were set out by the trial judge in his reasons for ruling; we quote approvingly (footnotes omitted):

This lawsuit is a claim made by the Lafayette Parish School Board against Darlene Cormier, the mother of Jade Cormier. Plaintiff alleges that N.P. Moss Elementary School Annex student Jade Cormier negligently injured their employee, Mary Living, on February 7, 2002. Plaintiff paid Mary Living workers' compensation for her injuries, and Plaintiff seeks in this action to recover from Defendant what it paid and what it will pay in the future to Mary Living.
Defendant moved for summary judgment. The motion was heard on July 12, 2004, and the Court took the matter under advisement. The matter was submitted on additional briefs which were filed on July 27, 2004. In Plaintiff's supplemental memorandum, the Plaintiff requested a hearing before the Court on issues raised in the supplemental briefing. However, the Court finds that additional argument is unnecessary.
The undisputed facts in this matter are that Mary Living was an employee of N.P. Moss Elementary School Annex (N.P.Moss) and was acting in the course and scope of her employment as a teaching assistant with the Lafayette Parish School Board. Jade Cormier was an eleven (11) year old male student at N.P. Moss. Mary Living was the teaching assistant assigned to Jade Cormier's classroom. On the day in question, Jade purchased a toy gun from another student for one dollar ($1.00). After he purchased the gun, Jade entered Mary Living's classroom and pointed the gun at her. He then simulated firing the gun by shouting "bang." The toy gun in question was described as being very small, measuring "approximately 2-3 inches long; silver in color. Thickness was maybe the size of a dime — very small." As a result of the incident, Mary Living suffered mental and emotional trauma and was compensated by Plaintiff's workers' compensation carrier.
*1199 Further undisputed facts are that Jade Cormier was enrolled in the Special Education Alternative Site Program ("SEAS") at N.P. Moss when the incident sued upon occurred. Prior to be being enrolled in N.P. Moss, Jade underwent a Pupil Appraisal Evaluation administered by Pupil Appraisal Services in 1999, when Jade was 8 years old. The Pupil Appraisal evaluation found that Jade qualified for special education services in the SEAS program at N.P. Moss because Jade had an emotional and behavioral disorder. Plaintiff then prepared an individualized education plan ("IEP") for Jade. The IEP prepared by Plaintiff stated that Jade's primary exceptionality was emotional disturbance, and that he also had difficulty with impulsive and aggressive behavior.

LAW AND DISCUSSION

In Hines v. Riceland Drilling Co., 04-503 (La.App. 3 Cir. 9/29/04), 882 So.2d 1287, writ denied, 04-2705 (La.1/07/05), 891 So.2d 681, this court recounted the law applicable to the appellate review of summary judgments, stating as follows:

In Independent Fire Insurance Co. v. Sunbeam Corp., 99-2181, 99-2257, p. 7 (La.2/29/00), 755 So.2d 226, 230-31, the Louisiana Supreme Court discussed the standard of review of a summary judgment as follows:
Our review of a grant or denial of a motion for summary judgment is de novo. Schroeder v. Board of Sup'rs of Louisiana State University, 591 So.2d 342 (La.1991). A motion for summary judgment will be granted "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact, and that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." La. C.C.P. art. 966(B). This article was amended in 1996 to provide that "summary judgment procedure is designed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action.... The procedure is favored and shall be construed to accomplish these ends." La. C.C.P. art. 966(A)(2). In 1997, the article was further amended to specifically alter the burden of proof in summary judgment proceedings as follows:
The burden of proof remains with the movant. Thereafter, if the adverse party fails to produce factual support sufficient to establish that he will be able to satisfy his evidentiary burden of proof at trial, there is no genuine issue of material fact. La. C.C.P. art. 966(C)(2).

Hines, 882 So.2d at 1289-90. Accordingly, we must undertake a de novo review of the summary judgment.

On appeal, the plaintiff assigns the following as errors:

1. The trial court erred in granting the defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment on issues raised sua sponte in not allowing a contradictory hearing on this matter.
2. The trial court erred in applying an assumption of risk defense, a defense which is no longer available under Louisiana law.
3. The trial court erred in its application of the standard of proof for summary judgment proceeding in requiring the non-moving party to provide evidence of the ultimate issue in order to defeat summary judgment.
4. The trial court erred in granting the defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment in relieving Jade Cormier of liability for the injuries caused Mary Living despite the complete and total lack of evidence that Jade *1200 Cormier is not legally subject to responsibility for his tortiuous [sic] conduct.

Appellant's first assignment of error is completely without merit. Appellant made no objection during the hearing on the defendant's motion for summary judgment to any issue raised by the defendant or the court during the hearing. Further, the transcript of the hearing of the defendant's motion shows that the appellant neither requested a continuance nor that another hearing be scheduled, but rather, requested that the plaintiff be given "an opportunity to brief this matter more specifically." The trial judge granted the plaintiff's/appellant's request. Thus, we decline to consider this issue in light of plaintiff's failure to contemporaneously object or to "make[] known to the court the action which he desire[d]the court to take." La.Code Civ. P. art. 1635.

The appellant's second assignment of error, that the trial court applied "an assumption of risk defense," is also without merit. In his reasons for judgment the trial judge clearly stated the basis upon which he made his decision, i.e., "that the undisputed facts support a finding that Jade Cormier has not breached the standard of care applicable to him." Nowhere does the trial court conclude that Mary Living assumed the risk of any injury she claims she sustained.

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Bluebook (online)
901 So. 2d 1197, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lafayette-parish-school-bd-v-cormier-lactapp-2005.