Louisiana Safety Ass'n v. Courtney Const.

949 So. 2d 490, 2006 WL 3616408
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 13, 2007
Docket41,564-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 949 So. 2d 490 (Louisiana Safety Ass'n v. Courtney Const.) 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
Louisiana Safety Ass'n v. Courtney Const., 949 So. 2d 490, 2006 WL 3616408 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

949 So.2d 490 (2006)

LOUISIANA SAFETY ASSOCIATION OF TIMBERMEN SELF INSURERS FUND, Plaintiff-Appellee
v.
COURTNEY CONSTRUCTION COMPANY OF ALEXANDRIA, INC., Courtney Equipment Company, Inc. and Transwaste, Inc., Defendants-Appellants.

No. 41,564-CA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

December 13, 2006.
Opinion Denying Rehearing January 13, 2007.

*493 Stamey & Miller, LLC, Natchitoches, by J. Mark Miller, for Appellants.

Provosty, Sadler, deLaunay, Fiorenza & Sobel by Joseph J. Bailey, Ricky L. Sooter, Alexandria, for Appellee.

Before BROWN, LOLLEY & SEXTON (Pro Tempore), JJ. BROWN, STEWART, MOORE, LOLLEY & SEXTON (Pro Tempore), JJ.

SEXTON, J.

Defendants Courtney Construction Company of Alexandria, Inc. ("Courtney Construction"), Courtney Equipment Company, Inc. ("Courtney Equipment") and Transwaste, Inc. appeal the trial court's judgment in favor of Plaintiff Louisiana Safety Association of Timbermen Self Insurers Fund ("LSAT"). Plaintiff sued Defendants alleging it was owed unpaid premiums for workers' compensation insurance for 1992 through 1995. After a bench trial, the trial court awarded Plaintiff $120,615.12 for fund years 1994 and 1995 against all three Defendants, in solido, plus ten percent per annum interest and $25,000 in attorney fees.[1] Defendants appeal. In addition to this appeal, Defendants filed a motion to remand based on newly discovered evidence. For the foregoing reasons, we deny the motion to remand and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

FACTS

In 1992, Plaintiff issued a single policy, number 50414, effective November 5, 1992, for workers' compensation insurance to cover the employees of all three Defendants. Plaintiff is a self-insurer fund offering workers' compensation insurance. Defendants are three separate companies involved in industrial activities. Courtney Construction was owned by Jack Courtney, Jr. and its operations include highway paving, construction and concrete paving. Jack Courtney, Jr. also owned Courtney Equipment which sold and repaired construction equipment. Transwaste was owned by Jeff Courtney, son of Jack Courtney, Jr. It operated a facility for receiving collected waste materials, which were sorted and loaded onto trailers for transportation to landfills. Courtney Construction and Courtney Equipment are located at the same site, while Transwaste's facility is located two miles away from them. All three businesses are run out of the same office complex with Jack Courtney, Jr.'s office across the hall from Jeff Courtney's office. They shared a single office manager.

Defendants obtained insurance coverage from Plaintiff through a membership application and agreement (the "Agreement"). This Agreement is the basis of Plaintiff's claim. All three Defendants are named as insureds in the Agreement. Under the ownership section of the Agreement, Jack Courtney is listed as president of Courtney Construction and Courtney Equipment and Jeff Courtney is listed as president of Transwaste. It is signed only by Jack Courtney as President of Courtney Construction *494 and by the insurance agent, Bruce Yates.

The premiums for this policy were determined by an annual audit conducted by an independent auditor. The auditor conducts the audit by requesting payroll and other related documents from the insured, meeting with the insured to obtain any information he might need and calculating the total annual premium for the audited fund year. As part of the audit, the auditor assigns codes to the various employees of Defendants as governed by the SCOPES manual.

The SCOPES manual is a publication by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) for the determination of workers' compensation premiums. The codes correlate to a rate used to determine the premium for that category of employee. Auditor James Parker performed three audits for fund years 1993, 1994 and 1995. Auditor Nancy Fugler O'Neal performed a re-audit of the 1994 fund year.

Also in dispute is the code classification of some of the drivers at the Transwaste facility, and, thus, the appropriate premium to be charged for those employees. As described by Jeff Courtney, third party garbage collectors, such as municipal garbage collectors, would drop off their truck loads of garbage at Transwaste's facility. The garbage was sorted for any recyclables or botanical green matter, then loaded into trailers and driven to a pick up site near the front of the property. Other drivers would then pick up the trailers and transport them to the landfill. Mr. Courtney described this operation as a "hook and pull" system where the driver simply backed up to the loaded trailer, hooked it up and pulled it away. The driver did not load the trash and the trash was unloaded at the landfill by the mechanisms built into the trailer. Mr. Parker assigned code 7219-Trucking NOC to these drivers as requested by Defendants.[2] Defendants dispute the use of this code. At trial and on appeal, they argue that code 7380-Drivers, Chauffeurs & Their Helpers NOC-Commercial should apply. Use of code 7380 instead of code 7219 would result in lower premiums.

In October 1996, Plaintiff sued Defendants for $125,959.12, together with ten percent per annum interest and attorney fees. The petition alleged that Defendants failed to pay premiums on the policy for fund years 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995. A judgment was finally signed in this case in February 2006. For the fund year 1994, the trial court awarded Plaintiff $73,120.10, together with interest in the amount of ten percent per annum from October 27, 1995, until paid. For the fund year 1995, the trial court awarded Plaintiff $47,495.02, together with interest in the amount of ten percent per annum from October 8, 1999, until paid. The trial court awarded Plaintiff $25,000 in attorney fees. The entire judgment was against all three Defendants, in solido. Defendants appeal this judgment, asserting eleven assignments of error.

After the appeal was filed, Defendants filed a Motion to Remand for newly discovered evidence. They assert that, in cleaning a closet, they found some documents from Plaintiff regarding the policy that listed Transwaste separately on documents. This court referred the decision on this motion to the merits of this appeal.

DISCUSSION

Motion to Remand for Newly Discovered Evidence

We first consider the motion to remand submitted by Defendants. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is denied.

*495 The power to remand a case without rendering a decision so the trial court can receive new evidence requires the appellate court to set aside the existing judgment; such a power should be exercised sparingly. Love v. AAA Temporaries, Inc., 03-1460 (La.10/17/03), 858 So.2d 410. A remand for new evidence is proper when the evidence was unobtainable with due diligence for the original trial and the new evidence is likely to affect the outcome of the case. Id.; Herbert v. Travelers Indemnity Co., 255 La. 645, 232 So.2d 463 (1970). Defendants fail to meet either requirement.

According to Defendants, they discovered the new evidence after the trial judge signed the order of appeal. Defendants discovered a certificate of membership issued by Plaintiff solely to Transwaste and a monthly premium report document listing only Transwaste as the member company. These documents were said to be found in a box with additional documents regarding insurance coverage from Plaintiff.

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949 So. 2d 490, 2006 WL 3616408, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/louisiana-safety-assn-v-courtney-const-lactapp-2007.