Melder v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

162 So. 3d 438, 14 La.App. 3 Cir. 934, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 257, 2015 WL 542851
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 11, 2015
DocketNo. 14-934
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 162 So. 3d 438 (Melder v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance 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
Melder v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 162 So. 3d 438, 14 La.App. 3 Cir. 934, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 257, 2015 WL 542851 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinions

KEATY, Judge.

| plaintiffs, Naddia and Randel Melder, appeal the trial court’s judgment in favor of Defendant, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. For the following reasons, the trial court’s judgment is affirmed.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The issue in this case is whether the rejection of uninsured motorist and/or un-derinsured (UM) insurance coverage was executed by a person with the authority to waive coverage. In that regard, Mrs. Melder was injured in an automobile collision occurring in Alexandria, Louisiana, on March 1, 2007, when the vehicle she was driving, a 2006 Nissan truck, was struck by another vehicle driven by Connie Tur-lington. Turlington ran a stop sign prior to striking Mrs. Melder’s vehicle. Mrs. Melder was working in the course and scope of her employment with Grimes Industrial Supply, L.L.C., at the time of the collision. Mrs. Melder’s vehicle was provided to her by her employer although it was owned by another company, Grimes True Value Hardware, L.L.C.

At the time of the collision, State Farm provided an automobile liability insurance policy insuring the vehicle being driven by Mrs. Melder, which afforded UM coverage to Plaintiffs as insureds. Plaintiffs also maintained a separate policy with Louisiana Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company which provided additional UM coverage to them as insureds. Since Tur-lington’s vehicle was uninsured, Plaintiffs filed suit against State Farm and Farm Bureau for UM coverage.

State Farm filed a motion for summary judgment seeking dismissal of Plaintiffs’ claims against it. State Farm argued that Floyd Grimes (Floyd), the owner of Grimes Industrial Supply, L.L.C., declined UM coverage under the State | gFarm policy which provided coverage for the vehicle driven by Mrs. Melder. Attached to its motion for summary judgment was the following: Plaintiffs’ Petition for Damages; a certified copy of the State Farm policy issued to ■ “GRIMES, FLOYD & GRIME [S], FRANK DBA GRIMES TRUE VALUE HDW STORE 8322 HIGHWAY 71 N PINEVILLE LA 71360-2751[;]” Floyd’s affidavit; and Vera Beck-ham’s affidavit. Plaintiffs filed an opposition and cross-motion for summary judgment, seeking a judicial determination that State Farm provided UM coverage. State Farm then filed a reply and a supplemental memorandum in support of its motion for summary judgment and attached the following additional exhibits, including but not limited to: Floyd’s supplemental affidavit; Floyd’s deposition taken on July 10, 2013, on behalf of Grimes True Value Hardware, L.L.C.; and Vera Beckham’s supplemental and amending affidavit. State Farm also filed a second supplemental memorandum.

Following a hearing on the cross-motions for summary judgment which took [442]*442place on October 18, 2010, the trial court denied Plaintiffs’ motion and granted State Farm’s motion for summary judgment, dismissing it as a defendant. Plaintiffs appealed. On appeal, this court reversed and remanded the trial court’s judgment, finding that genuine issues of material fact existed as to Floyd’s authority to reject UM coverage on the subject vehicle. Melder v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 11-98 (La.App. 3 Cir. 6/1/11), 66 So.3d 603. Specifically, we held that:

Simply stated, the policy purports to insure a vehicle belonging to Floyd and Frank Grimes, but Mr. Grimes[’] sworn affidavit states that the vehicle belongs to a limited liability company. Furthermore, the record contains no evidence of the authority by which Mr. Grimes executed the UM rejection, either on behalf of the limited liability company or the apparently non-existent partnership between himself | aand Frank Grimes. Given that unresolved material fact, the burden never shifted to the Melders in the summary judgment hearing.

Melder, 66 So.3d at 608. The genuine issue of material fact regarding Floyd’s authority to execute the waiver stems from the fact that although the State Farm policy covering the vehicle was issued to Floyd Grimes and Frank Grimes DBA Grimes True Value Hardware Store, the vehicle was titled to Grimes True Value Hardware, L.L.C., and used by Grimes Industrial Supply, L.L.C.

On remand, State Farm filed a second supplemental memorandum in support of its motion for summary judgment. After a hearing which took place on June 23, 2014, the trial court granted State Farm’s renewed motion for summary judgment and dismissed Plaintiffs’ claims against it with prejudice.

Plaintiffs appeal this new judgment and assign as error the following:

(1) Whether a material issue of fact exists as to the named insured’s identity under the State Farm policy such that the trial court legally erred by resolving this factual issue rather than holding that such factual issue precludes summary judgment;
(2) Whether a material issue of fact exists as to the capacity in which Floyd signed the UM rejection form such that the trial court legally erred by not holding that such factual issue precludes summary judgment;
(3) Whether Floyd, in his capacity as manager of Grimes True Value Hardware, L.L.C., and pursuant to its Operating Agreement, is contractually authorized to reject UM coverage on its behalf and, if so, does having such authority matter if he failed to sign the UM rejection form in a representative capacity on behalf of Grimes True Value Hardware, L.L.C.;
(4) Whether ambiguity and lack of clarity invalidates the UM rejection form because of the uncertain identity of the named insured and whether Floyd signed the UM rejection form individually and under the trade name Grimes True Value Hardware, as alleged by State Farm, ,or as a legal representative of Grimes True Value Hardware, L.L.C., as testified to by Floyd, and;
1)(5) Whether the trial court legally erred by deciding the validity of the UM rejection form based on the intentions of the parties.

DISCUSSION

When reviewing a trial court’s judgment on a motion for summary judgment, an appellate court employs the de novo standard of review “using the same criteria that govern the trial court’s con[443]*443sideration of whether summary judgment is appropriate, i.e., whether there is a genuine issue of material fact and whether the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Supreme Servs. & Specialty Co., Inc. v. Greer, 06-1827, p. 4 (La.5/22/07), 958 So.2d 684, 688. The burden of proof remains with the movant. La.Code Civ.P. art. 966(C)(2). If the moving party, however, will not bear the burden of proof at trial and shows that there lacks “factual support for one or more elements essential to the adverse party’s claim, action, or defense!,]” then the non-moving party must produce “factual support sufficient to establish that he will be able to satisfy his evidentiary burden of proof at trial[.]” Id. If the opponent of the motion fails to do so, there is no genuine issue of material fact, and summary judgment will be granted. Id. The motion for summary judgment is 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, and that mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” La.Code Civ.P. art. 966(B)(2). Thus, we must analyze the substantive law governing the instant matter to determine whether a material fact exists. Jagneaux v.

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Bluebook (online)
162 So. 3d 438, 14 La.App. 3 Cir. 934, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 257, 2015 WL 542851, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/melder-v-state-farm-mutual-automobile-insurance-co-lactapp-2015.