Liberty Mutual Fire Ins. Co. v. Weaver

219 So. 3d 442, 16 La.App. 3 Cir. 1008, 2017 WL 1951148, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 806
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided May 10, 2017·No. 16-1008·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

DAVID E. CHATELAIN *JUDGE

|,The plaintiff, Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company (Liberty Mutual), appeals the trial court’s judgments granting the peremptory exceptions of res judicata of the defendants, Allmerica Financial Benefit Insurance Company (Allmerica), Terry Weaver (Weaver), and Progressive Gulf Insurance Company (Progressive) (collectively “the defendants”). We affirm.1

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On March 28, 2016, Liberty Mutual filed a petition alleging a violation of La.R.S. 23:1102(C)(1) against the defendants.2 In its petition, Liberty Mutual alleged that it had intervened and asserted a workers’ compensation lien in a separate tort action filed by Mary Ortega (Ortega), and that on September 19, 2015, the defendants entered into a settlement agreement with Ortega without obtaining Liberty Mutual’s consent as required by La.R.S. 23:1102(0(1).

On July 12, 2016, Weaver filed a peremptory exception of res judicata alleging that in the prior suit “the action was between the same parties on the same cause of action as this action[,] and that Liberty Mutual’s claim in the tort action had been resolved pursuant to a judgment of dismissal rendered on October 27, 2015.” On thát same day, Progressive also filed a peremptory exception of res judicata asserting the same reasons as Weaver.3 Likewise, on August 2, 2016, Allmerica filed a peremptory exception of res judica-ta and a motion for sanctions. Allmerica asserted that the current suit is “founded on the same cause of actions, ^demands the same thing, and is between the same parties and formed by them in the same quality as” the prior suit. On August 19, 2016, Liberty Mutual filed a memorandum in opposition to the defendants’ peremptory exceptions of res judicata to which it attached three exhibits: (A) the trial court’s judgment in the prior suit signed on October 27, 2015; (B) its petition of intervention in the prior suit filed on July 25, 2014; and (C) the September 17, 2015 settlement agreement between the defendants and Ortega in the prior suit.

The trial court held a hearing on the exceptions on August 25, 2016. Liberty Mutual offered its memorandum in opposition with its attachments for the record. The defendants offered no evidence at the hearing. On September 19, 2016, the trial court entered two judgments in this matter, one submitted by Liberty Mutual and one by the defendants; it is impossible to determine which judgment the trial court signed first. Although the two judgments differed in phraseology, the decretal language was the same—the trial court granted the peremptory exceptions of res judi-cata and denied the motion for sanctions. Liberty Mutual timely appealed both judgments.

[445] RES JUDICATA: ISSUE PRECLUSION

In the present case, Liberty Mutual relies upon La.R.S. 23:1102(C)(1), contending that because of the settlement Ortega reached with the defendants without Liberty Mutual’s prior written approval, it is entitled to “a total amount of $103,748.71 and all additional workers’ compensation payments that may accrue or occur subsequent to the resolution of this litigation as a matter of law.” Liberty Mutual further argues that because the settlement at issue was entered into before its intervention was dismissed in the earlier lawsuit, this constitutes a new and different cause of action to which res judicata is inapplicable. We disagree.

| ;¡“Res judicata is an issue and claim preclusion device found both in federal law and state law.” Terrebonne Fuel & Lube, Inc. v. Placid Ref. Co., 95-654, 95-671, p. 12 (La. 1/16/96), 666 So.2d 624, 631. “The purpose of both federal and state law on res judicata is essentially the same; to promote judicial efficiency and final resolution of disputes by preventing needless relitigation.” Id. Although prior to 1991, Louisiana law on res judicata was substantially narrower than federal law, the 1991 amendments expanded the law to include issue preclusion. Id.; Williams v. City of Marksville, 02-1130 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/5/03), 839 So.2d 1129.

Under the principle of issue preclusion set forth in La.R.S. 13:4231(3), “[a] judgment in favor of either the plaintiff or the defendant is conclusive, in any subsequent action between them, with respect to any issue actually litigated and determined if its determination was essential to that judgment.” Although both claim and issue preclusion are termed res judicata under our law, these two concepts are alike in result but distinctly different. In Hudson v. City of Bossier, 33,620, p. 7 (La.App. 2 Cir. 8/25/00), 766 So.2d 738, 743, unit denied, 00-2687 (La. 11/27/00), 775 So.2d 450 (emphasis added), the appellate court explained this distinction:

Under claim preclusion, a final judgment on the merits precludes the parties from relitigating matters that were or could have been raised in that action. Under issue preclusion or collateral estoppel, however, once a court decides an issue of fact or law necessary to its judgment, that decision precludes relitigation of the same issue in a different cause of action between the same parties.

Comment (b) to La.R.S. 13:4231 further states, in part:

R.S. 13:4231 also changes the law by adopting the principle of issue preclusion. This principle serves the interests of judicial economy by preventing reliti-gation of the same issue between the same parties. For example, if a plaintiff brings an action against a defendant to recover for injuries sustained in an automobile accident, the judgment rendered in that action would preclude relitigation of any issue raised in a subsequent action brought by defendant against plaintiff to recover for his injuries sustained in the same accident | ¿provided that the issue had been actually litigated and essential to the judgment, e.g., fault of either party. This proviso insures that the issue would have been fully developed by the parties in the first action and makes it fair to hold the parties bound to that initial determination. '

“[Ojnce a court decides an issue of fact or law necessary to its judgment, that decision precludes relitigation of the same issue in a different cause of action between the same parties.” Hudson, 33,620, p. 7, 766 So.2d at 743. Thus, under La.R.S. 13:4231(3) the three requirements for issue preclusion are: “(1) a valid and final judgment; (2) identity of the parties; and (3) [446] an issue that has been actually litigated and determined if its determination was essential to the prior judgment.” Horrell v. Horrell, 99-1093, p. 1 (La.App. 1 Cir. 10/6/00), 808 So.2d 363, 373, writ denied, 01-2546 (La. 12/7/01), 803 So.2d 971.

At the heart of Liberty Mutual’s contention in . the present case, La.R.S. 23:1102(C)(1)' states, in pertinent, part:

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Liberty Mutual Fire Ins. Co. v. Weaver, 219 So. 3d 442, 16 La.App. 3 Cir. 1008, 2017 WL 1951148, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 806 (La. Ct. App. 2017).

219 So. 3d 442 (Liberty Mutual Fire Ins. Co. v. Weaver) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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