Madison v. Inter-Continental Hotels Corp.

173 So. 3d 1246, 2015 WL 5043286
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 26, 2015
DocketNos. 2014-CA-0717, 2014-C-0781
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 173 So. 3d 1246 (Madison v. Inter-Continental Hotels Corp.) 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
Madison v. Inter-Continental Hotels Corp., 173 So. 3d 1246, 2015 WL 5043286 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

SANDRA CABRINA JENKINS, Judge.

_JjThis appeal and the consolidated writ arise out of a personal injury suit. Plaintiff, Huey Madison, filed suit against Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation and Panacon Partnership (“Inter-Continental”) and Carolina Door Controls, Inc., d/b/a Alabama Door Systems and/or Automatic Access (“Carolina Door”), for alleged injuries sustained from the operation of an automatic revolving door located upon the premises of Inter-Continental. Plaintiff and Inter-Continental now appeal the trial court’s April 23, 2014 judgment granting summary judgment in favor of Carolina Door. In the consolidated writ,1 Carolina Door seeks review of the trial court’s June 8, 2014 judgment denying its motion to strike Plaintiffs expert affidavit that was submitted in opposition to the motion for summary judgment.

Upon our de novo review of the trial court’s judgment granting the motion for summary judgment, we find genuine issues of material fact that preclude summary judgment in favor of Carolina Door and we reverse the trial court’s April 23, 2014 judgment and remand the matter for further proceedings. Upon review of |¡>the trial court’s denial of the motion to strike the expert affidavit, we find no abuse of discretion and deny the writ.

PACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On January 9, 2004, Plaintiff was work-' ing as a courier in downtown New Orleans. In the course of making deliveries, Plaintiff walked through the Inter-Continental Hotel. As he exited the hotel through its automatic revolving door, Plaintiff alleges that the door panels stopped revolving, collapsed together, and pinned Plaintiff between two door panels. Subsequently, Plaintiff filed suit against Inter-Continental alleging injuries from the incident on January 9, 2004, and claiming damages as a result of Inter-Continental’s negligence in creating a hazardous condition, failing to warn of known defects, and failing to properly install, maintain, inspect, monitor, and repair the revolving door.

Inter-Continental answered Plaintiffs suit and denied all claims of negligence. Inter-Continental also asserted a third-party demand against Carolina Door, the company which supplied, installed, and serviced the revolving door at issue. Inter-Continental alleged that Carolina Door had exclusive control over the inspection, maintenance, and repairs of the revolving door. Inter-Continental asserted that any damages caused to Plaintiff resulted solely from Carolina Door’s various acts of negligence, including failure to properly install, inspect, maintain, and repair the revolving door. After Inter-Continental asserted this third party demand, Plaintiff filed an amended petition naming Carolina Door as a direct defendant in his suit.

|,Jn June 2013, Carolina Door filed a motion for summary judgment seeking dismissal of Plaintiffs claims. Carolina Door argued Plaintiff could not produce any factual support for his negligence claims against it and as a matter of law Carolina Door was entitled to summary judgment dismissing all of Plaintiffs claims against it. Plaintiff filed an opposition to Carolina Door’s motion for summary judgment but Plaintiff did not submit any affidavits or exhibits in support of his opposition.

Prior to a hearing on Carolina Door’s motion for summary judgment, Inter-Con[1249]*1249tinental filed its own motion for summary judgment seeking dismissal of Plaintiffs claims. In addition, Inter-Continental filed a memorandum in response and opposition to Carolina Door’s motion for summary judgment. Inter-Continental asserted its position as a third-party plaintiff against Carolina Door and argued that Carolina Door was solely responsible for any damages caused to Plaintiff.

On December 6, 2013, the trial court held a brief hearing and elected to preter-mit ruling on the motions for summary judgment filed separately by Carolina Door and Inter-Continental. The trial court also granted Plaintiff an additional 15 days to introduce any evidence or exhibits to counter the motions and the evidence introduced into the record by Carolina Door and Inter-Continental.

On December 20, 2013, Plaintiff filed a supplemental memorandum in opposition to the motions for summary judgment and attached the affidavit of Michael Panish, whom Plaintiff offered as an expert witness in the field of construction with an emphasis on doors and automatic doors.2 Plaintiff averred ijhat4 the expert affidavit demonstrated genuine issues of material fact as to the installation, servicing, and repair of the revolving door and defendants’ failure to warn of potential hazards. In response, Carolina Door filed a motion to strike the expert affidavit of Michael Panish, arguing that the late introduction of an expert witness violated the trial court’s pretrial orders and the affidavit contained only unsupported, conclusory statements.

On March 14, 2014, the trial court held a hearing on the motions for summary judgment and the motion to strike. After hearing arguments, the trial court found that Plaintiff had failed to produce factual support of the alleged negligence of Carolina Door and granted Carolina Door’s motion for summary judgment. The trial court then stated it would deny InterContinental’s motion for summary judgment and would issue written reasons for judgment to explain what issues remained vis-a-vis Inter-Continental and Plaintiff.3 At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court admitted all parties’ exhibits into evidence and noted Carolina Door’s objection to the affidavit of Michael Panish; but the trial court did not rule on Carolina Door’s motion to strike the expert affidavit during the hearing.

Following the March 14, 2014 hearing, the trial court rendered two judgments. The trial court’s April 23, 2014 judgment granted Carolina Door’s motion for summary judgment, dismissing Plaintiffs claims against Carolina Door while preserving Inter-Continental’s third-party claims against Carolina Door. Following this judgment, Plaintiff filed a timely motion for appeal. Subsequently, on June 9, 2014, the trial court signed a judgment denying Carolina Door’s motion to strike the expert affidavit. Following the second judgment, the trial court 1 ^granted InterContinental’s motion for devolutive appeal of both trial court judgments.4 The trial [1250]*1250court also granted Carolina Door’s notice of intent to seek supervisory review of the June 9, 2014 judgment.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Appellate courts review a trial court judgment granting a motion for summary judgment de novo using the same criteria applied by the trial court to determine the appropriateness of summary judgment, i.e., whether there is any genuine issue of material fact and whether the moving party is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. Schroth v. Estate of Samuel, 11-1385, p. 3 (La.App. 4 Cir. 4/18/12), 90 So.3d 1209, 1211; Schultz v. Guoth, 10-0343, pp. 5-6 (La.1/19/11), 57 So.3d 1002, 1005-06. Summary judgment is properly granted “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions, together with the affidavits, if any, admitted for purposes of the motion for summary judgment, show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact.” La. C.C.P. art. 966(B)(2); Samaha v. Rau, 07-1726, p. 4 (La.2/26/08), 977 So.2d 880, 883.

On a motion for summary judgment, the mover bears the initial burden of proof. La. C.C.P. art. 966(C)(2).

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173 So. 3d 1246, 2015 WL 5043286, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/madison-v-inter-continental-hotels-corp-lactapp-2015.