Litton v. Ford Motor Co.

554 So. 2d 99, 1989 WL 150135
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 6, 1989
Docket20892-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 554 So. 2d 99 (Litton v. Ford Motor Co.) 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
Litton v. Ford Motor Co., 554 So. 2d 99, 1989 WL 150135 (La. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

554 So.2d 99 (1989)

Danny Norman LITTON, et al., Plaintiffs/Appellees/Appellants,
v.
FORD MOTOR COMPANY and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Defendants/Appellants/Appellees.

No. 20892-CA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

December 6, 1989.
Rehearing Denied January 18, 1990.

*100 Tommy J. Johnson, Shreveport, for Danny Norman Litton, et al.

Mayer, Smith & Roberts by Paul R. Mayer, Sr., Shreveport, for Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. and Ford Motor Co.

McGrew and O'Neill by Keith Riddle, Baton Rouge, for Champion Ins. Co.

Rountree, Cox & Guin by Billy J. Guin, Jr., Shreveport, for Planet Ins. Co. and Mid South Fleet Leasing, A Perma Green Lawn of Jackson d/b/a Mid South Car and Truck Rental.

*101 Before HALL, C.J., and NORRIS and LINDSAY, JJ.

HALL, Chief Judge.

This suit arises out of an accident which occurred June 5, 1985 at the intersection of U.S. Highway 171 and La. Highway 5 in DeSoto Parish, known as the Kickapoo intersection. The intersection is controlled by a blinking yellow light on Highway 171 and a blinking red light and a stop sign on Highway 5. Cynthia Litton, accompanied by her 5 year old son Jason, was proceeding south on Highway 171. Margaret McMillan, accompanied by her sister Agnes McMillan, proceeding east on Highway 5, ran through the blinking red light and stop sign and her automobile was struck on the left side near the driver's door by the Litton automobile. Mrs. Litton was killed and her son was severely injured. The McMillan sisters were also killed. Margaret McMillan was driving a car owned by Ford Motor Company which her mother, also named Margaret McMillan, had leased from Mid South Car and Truck Rental, a licensee of Ford Motor Company in the Ford Rent-A-Car System.

This suit was brought by Mrs. Litton's husband and on behalf of her surviving children for damages arising out of her death, and to recover damages for the personal injuries sustained by Jason Litton. Named defendants were (1) the unopened succession of Margaret McMillan, (2) Mid South Fleet Leasing Corporation and its subsidiary corporation, A Perma Green Lawn of Jackson, Inc. d/b/a Mid South Car and Truck Rental, (3) Ford Motor Company, (4) Liberty Mutual Insurance Company which had issued a liability insurance policy to Ford Motor Company with $100,000/$300,000 limits covering the leased automobile, (5) Planet Insurance Company which had issued a liability policy to A Perma Green Lawn, with limits of $100,000/$300,000 covering the leased automobile, and (6) Champion Insurance Company which had issued a liability policy with $10,000/$20,000 uninsured motorist coverage covering the Litton vehicle. Ford Motor Company was alleged to be liable to plaintiffs under an agreement between Ford and its licensee whereby Ford agreed to provide excess liability coverage of $1,000,000 over and above the basic $100,000/$300,000 coverage provided by Liberty Mutual, protecting not only Ford and its licensee but also the daily rental customer.

Defendants denied liability and pled Mrs. Litton's contributory or comparative negligence. Ford contended that its agreement with its licensee had been amended to eliminate the $1,000,000 excess coverage for rental customers and, even if the agreement continued in effect, plaintiffs were not third party beneficiaries of that agreement and had no right to recover from Ford.

After trial the district court found that the sole cause of the accident was the negligence of Ms. McMillan, that A Perma Green Lawn and Mid South were not negligent and not liable, and that the Ford Motor Company excess coverage agreement was in effect and extended coverage to the plaintiffs. Judgment was rendered in favor of Mr. Litton for $8,531.44 in special damages and $250,000 in general damages. Jason Litton was awarded damages of $1,000,000 which included $150,000 for the loss of his mother and $850,000 for his personal injuries. The other two children of Cynthia Litton were awarded $150,000 each. The total amount of damages awarded was $1,558,531.44. The liability of the insurance companies was limited to their policy limits. Ford was cast for $1,000,000 over and above the amounts due by the insurance companies. Plaintiffs' suit was dismissed against A Perma Green Lawn and Mid South.

Ford and Liberty Mutual appealed suspensively asserting four specifications of error and filing an exception of no right of action in this court. Plaintiffs appealed asserting four specifications of error. Neither Planet Insurance Company nor Champion Insurance Company appealed, therefore, the judgment against them is final. Finding no error in the trial court's judgment, we affirm.

As set forth by the defendants-appellants, their four specifications of error raise the following issues:

*102 1. Do these plaintiffs have a right to seek to enforce the promise by Ford to Bill Hanna Ford to furnish excess coverage on the rent cars in favor of the rentees thereof as contained in the contract of January 2, 1968? In other words, are they third party beneficiaries, as they claim, which Ford denies?
2. If the court concludes that plaintiffs are third party beneficiaries, then the issue is whether or not the Ford Rent-A-Car contract with Bill Hanna Ford was effectively modified so as to eliminate excess coverage before the occurrence of this accident. Ford claims that it was and plaintiffs claim that it was not.
3. Was Mrs. Litton guilty of contributory negligence so as to require the application of the Louisiana Comparative Negligence Statute to any awards to the plaintiffs? Ford and Liberty Mutual as the primary ($100,000/$300,000) carrier on the rent car claims that she was and plaintiffs claim that she was not.
4. Is the award of $850,000.00 to Jason Litton for general damages excessive in light of the evidence introduced on his behalf? Ford and Liberty Mutual claim that they are excessive.

The plaintiffs' assignments of error are:

1. Plaintiffs assert that the trial court erred in failing to award Danny Norman Litton loss of support and loss of homemaker services as a result of the death of Cynthia Litton.
2. Plaintiffs assert that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence the depositions of William R. McCreedy, W.H. Barksdale and Arthur S. Carlson, identified as Ford 18, 19 and 20, and bulletins and attachments identified in said depositions in that said depositions were taken for the purpose of discovery and furthermore, on June 9, 1988, plaintiffs filed Written Objections to Questions Posed as to each deposition and the attachments thereto and said objections are valid.
3. Plaintiffs assert that the appeal lodged by LIBERTY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY in this instance was a frivolous appeal and plaintiffs are entitled to damages and attorney's fees.
4. Plaintiffs assert that they are entitled to interest on the entire balance of the judgment since the date of the signing of the judgment.

DEFENDANTS' ISSUE NO. 1

RECOVERY UNDER FORD'S AGREEMENT WITH ITS LICENSEE

In 1964 and again in 1968 Ford Motor Company (Ford) and Bill Hanna Ford (Hanna) entered into contracts entitled Ford Rent-A-Car System Agreement and Lease Agreement which provided that Hanna would purchase or lease cars from Ford for lease to various individuals. These contracts were later amended to substitute Mid-South and then A Perma Green Lawn, a Hanna subsidiary, as licensee.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
554 So. 2d 99, 1989 WL 150135, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/litton-v-ford-motor-co-lactapp-1989.