Palmer v. Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club, Inc.

63 So. 3d 131, 2009 La.App. 4 Cir. 0751, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 290, 2010 WL 717217
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 1, 2010
DocketNo. 2009-CA-0751
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 63 So. 3d 131 (Palmer v. Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club, Inc.) 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
Palmer v. Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club, Inc., 63 So. 3d 131, 2009 La.App. 4 Cir. 0751, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 290, 2010 WL 717217 (La. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

CHARLES R. JONES, Judge.

|, The appellants, Daisy Johnson Palmer and her husband Alfred M. Palmer, (the Palmers) seek review of a district court judgment which granted the motion for summary judgment of the named defendants/appellees: Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, the T.H.E. Insurance Company, Namaan C. Stewart, and ABC Insurance Company. We Affirm.

This action arises out of an incident which occurred on Tuesday, February 28, 2006, Mardi Gras Day, at about noon.

Mrs. Palmer, a retired Orleans Parish public school teacher, was a spectator in a crowd watching a Zulu parade at Canal & Dauphine Streets in New Orleans, accompanied by her husband, Mr. Palmer. Suddenly, a float rider, Mr. Stewart, allegedly threw five coconuts in quick succession, and one allegedly struck Daisy Palmer in the left side of her head, while she was looking for the next float in succession of the parade.

As the result of the subject incident, Mrs. Palmer sustained personal injuries which included a laceration of the forehead at the eyebrow, bleeding, as well as treatment for anxiety, depression, a loss of interest in Mardi Gras, and nightmares of coconuts striking her.

|j>The incident was captured by two videos, one recorded by Mr. Palmer; the second was recorded by a bystander, Mr. Bruce Welk, from Lewisville, Texas. Mr. Welk’s video clearly captures the float rider throwing five coconuts in quick succession, toward the front of the float. Mr. Welk dubbed this the “Coconut Artillery.” The other DVD, that is, the Palmers’ video, shows the float rider, Mr. Stewart (Mr. [133]*133Stewart), wearing a sash bearing his name, and the audio captures a spectator yelling “Namaan, Namaan.”

The Palmers filed suit the against the named appellees, Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, the T.H.E. Insurance Company, Mr. Stewart, and ABC Insurance Company, seeking damages for injuries sustained by Mrs. Palmer via the alleged negligent acts of Mr. Stewart, his insurer, the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club and its insurer. After discovery, the appellees filed motions for summary judgment.

At the hearing on the motion for summary judgment, the district court granted the motions for summary judgment, dismissing Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club, Inc., T.H.E. Insurance Company, and Mr. Stewart from the lawsuit, via judgment dated on February 17, 2009. Aggrieved by the judgment, this timely appeal followed.

By their sole assignment of error, the Palmers argue that district court erred manifestly1 in improperly ruling that:

1. Zulu is entitled to summary judgment, and;
2. The Palmers are unable to establish gross negligence on the part of defendants as a matter of law, citing to La. R.S. 2796.

| oThis Court reiterated the standard of review on a motion for summary judgment as follows:

Favored in Louisiana, the summary judgment procedure ‘is designed to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action’ and shall be construed to accomplish these ends.” King v. Parish Nat’l Bank, 04-0337, p. 7 (La.10/19/04), 885 So.2d 540, 545 (quoting La. C.C.P. art. 966(A)(2)). An appellate court reviews a district court’s decision granting summary judgment de novo, using the same standard applied by the trial court in deciding the motion for summary judgment. Schmidt v. Chevez, 00-2456, p. 4 (La.App. 4 Cir. 1/10/01), 778 So.2d 668, 670. Under this standard, summary judgment shall be granted if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact and that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. La. C.C.P. art. 966(B).

Sanchez v. Harbor Const. Co., Inc., 2008-0316, pp. 3-4 (LaApp. 4 Cir. 10/1/08), 996 So.2d 584, 587.

The Palmers argue that Mr. Stewart’s action of throwing coconuts from the float was done without “want of even slight care and diligence.” The Palmers assert that if such actions were not negligent, then why would Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club have rules expressly forbidding such behavior. In support of their argument that Mr. Stewart was negligent, the Palmers point to the rules found at Appendix II, All Float Riders, and Appendix III, Zulu Rules 10-21, which read in pertinent part as follows:

Do not toss throws to the front or rear of floats, or in the formation or disbanding areas.
[[Image here]]
The throwing of coconuts during the Zulu parade is positively forbidden. Coconuts will only be given out hand to hand.

|4The Palmers argue that the best evidence of negligence can be plainly seen in [134]*134the two DVDs admitted in the record in which, they contend, Mr. Stewart can be seen throwing five coconuts into the crowd. One of these coconuts purportedly hit Mrs. Palmer in the back of the head.

Because of this videotaped evidence, the Palmers argue that it is reasonably foreseeable that throwing that number of coconuts in that manner is dangerous and reckless behavior.

The Palmers note that the district court relied on Ambrose v. New Orleans Police Department Ambulance Service, et al., 93-3099, 639 So.2d 216 (La.1994),2 to define gross negligence “as the want of even slight care and diligence, and an entire absence of care and amounts to wanton or reckless behavior.” Ambrose, 639 So.2d at 219 citing State v. Vinzant, 200 La. 301, 7 So.2d 917 (La.1942). However, the Palmer’s maintain that the district court’s findings were incorrect.

To distinguish Ambrose, the Palmers cite Brown v. Lee, 929 So.2d 775 (La.App. 4 Cir. 4/5/06). In Brown, a spectator at the Mardi Gras Day Zulu parade filed suit against a Zulu Club member for being hit in the face by a coconut thrown in an overhand fashion from a parade float. The coconut was allegedly thrown a considerable distance from the Mardi Gras float as the float, in the Zulu parade, was turning-a corner. Ms. Brown was hit in the face, rendered momentarily unconscious, and was treated at an emergency room shortly after the incident. J^After seeking treatment post incident due to recurrent pain in the injury location, she was diagnosed with an orbital fracture.3

Ms. Brown filed suit alleging that Mr. Lee, the rider who threw the coconut to her, was grossly negligent in throwing a coconut in an overhand manner “a distance approximately equivalent to one and a half times the length of a large automobile.” Ms. Brown sought to hold Mr. Lee, Zulu, and its insurer liable for her injuries. Id., p. 2, 929 So.2d at 776.

In support of the motion for summary judgment, Mr. Lee submitted an affidavit stating that he was attempting to give Ms. Brown a coconut, because he recognized her as an acquaintance. Id., p. 2, 929 So.2d at 776-777. He further stated in his affidavit that he never intended to harm Ms. Brown. Id., p. 2, 929 So.2d at 777. Additionally, an affidavit was executed on behalf of the Zulu organization by its president.

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63 So. 3d 131, 2009 La.App. 4 Cir. 0751, 2010 La. App. LEXIS 290, 2010 WL 717217, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/palmer-v-zulu-social-aid-pleasure-club-inc-lactapp-2010.