Stewart v. Robinson

521 So. 2d 1241, 1988 WL 16546
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 2, 1988
Docket87-3
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 521 So. 2d 1241 (Stewart v. Robinson) 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
Stewart v. Robinson, 521 So. 2d 1241, 1988 WL 16546 (La. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

521 So.2d 1241 (1988)

Sharon F. STEWART, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Susan H. ROBINSON, et al., Defendants-Appellants.

No. 87-3.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

March 2, 1988.
Rehearing Denied April 11, 1988.
Writ Granted June 2, 1988.

*1242 David W. Robinson, Charles W. Roberts, Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellee/appellant.

Mouton & Roy, Kenneth M. Henke, Lafayette, Owen, Richardson, Taylor, Mathews & Atkinson, Hampden White, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellee.

Onebane, Donohoe, Bernard, Torian, Diaz, McNamara & Abell, John G. Torian, Steven B. Rabalais, Lafayette, for defendants-appellants.

Before GUIDRY, YELVERTON and KNOLL, JJ.

GUIDRY, Judge.

Sharon F. Stewart filed this suit for damages allegedly resulting from an automobile accident which occurred on June 20, 1980. The automobile occupied by Sharon and driven by Cathy St. Clair Loret was struck head-on by an automobile being driven by Susan H. Robinson. Sharon settled with the primary uninsured motorist insurer of the vehicle in which she was riding and received the sum of $95,000.00. On June 4, 1981, plaintiff filed this suit against Susan H. Robinson. Subsequently, she amended her petition to name Dairyland Insurance Company (hereafter Dairyland) and The Aetna Casualty and Surety Company (hereafter Aetna) as additional defendants, the former being sued as the liability insurer of Susan H. Robinson, and the latter being sued under the UM coverage contained in a "Business Auto Policy" issued by Aetna to plaintiff's employer, Universal Productions and Publications, Inc. (hereafter Universal). Universal's worker's compensation insurer, American Mutual Liability Company (hereafter American), intervened to recover the compensation *1243 and medical benefits paid and to be paid by it to plaintiff.

Aetna filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that its policy did not provide UM coverage for plaintiff. The motion was denied and the matter proceeded to trial. At the commencement of trial, the court noted the absence of Ms. Robinson's counsel and determined from the record that he had not been sent a notice of trial. For this reason, the trial court severed the case as to Ms. Robinson and proceeded with the trial against the other parties. After a hearing on the merits, the trial judge concluded that the Aetna policy did afford UM coverage to plaintiff. The court rendered judgment in favor of plaintiff for the sum of $750,000.00. Dairyland was cast for its per person liability limits of $5,000.00. Aetna was decreed entitled to a credit for the amounts provided by Dairyland and the primary UM coverage of $100,000.00 on the auto occupied by plaintiff. The judgment against Aetna was limited to Aetna's policy limits of $500,000.00. American was decreed entitled to the full amount of its intervention. Defendant, Aetna, appealed. Plaintiff filed a protective devolutive appeal with respect to apportionment of costs in the event the trial court judgment should be modified so as to affect Aetna's liability for costs.

Plaintiff-appellee filed an answer to the appeal urging her entitlement to penalties and attorney's fees for Aetna's alleged arbitrary and capricious failure to pay the trial court judgment despite the decision in Capone v. King, 467 So.2d 574 (La.App. 5th Cir.1985), writ refused, 468 So.2d 1203 (La.1985), which appellee contends disposed of all issues of policy interpretation presented in the instant case adverse to Aetna. Aetna motioned this court to dismiss appellee's answer to the appeal urging that such relief was not sought in the trial court and is not, therefore, an issue presented by the record on appeal.

FACTS

Sharon F. Stewart, plaintiff, and Cathy St. Clair Loret were both employed by Universal. They were to travel to Little Rock, Arkansas, to participate in a fashion show as models for Universal. The fashion show was to be held on Sunday, June 22, 1980, and there was no work to be done on the show until approximately 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 21, 1980. Although Universal was providing transportation to Little Rock, Ms. Stewart and Ms. Loret sought and received permission from Ms. Margie Hannaman, president of Universal, to travel to the show in Ms. Loret's 1976 Volvo sedan.

After leaving Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at approximately 2:00 p.m. on Friday, June 20, 1980, the two women traveled directly to False River to visit a friend of Ms. Loret. After the visit, the Loret vehicle proceeded down Highway 190. Ms. Loret was the driver and Ms. Stewart was a passenger. The Loret vehicle was traveling north on Highway 190, approximately 20 miles north of the intersection of Highway 71 and Highway 190 near LeBeau, Louisiana, when it was struck head-on by a southbound 1974 Toyota driven by Susan H. Robinson, which was attempting a passing maneuver. The record establishes that Susan Robinson's fault was the sole cause of the accident. Ms. Stewart allegedly suffered a broken wrist and severe injuries to her right hip, pelvis, right leg and right foot.

On appeal, Aetna urges the following as error:

1. The trial court erred in holding that the policy of insurance issued by Aetna to Universal afforded uninsured motorist coverage to plaintiff.
2. The trial court erred in assessing interest against Aetna from the date on which Ms. Robinson was sued.
3. The trial court erred in fixing plaintiff's damages in the amount of $750,000.00.

THE COVERAGE ISSUE

Part 1 of the Aetna policy describes the meaning of the term "Insured" as follows:

"F. `Insured' means any person or organization qualifying as an insured in the WHO IS INSURED section of the applicable insurance. Except with respect to our limit of liability, the insurance afforded *1244 applies separately to each insured who is seeking coverage or against whom a claim is made or suit is brought."

Item 2 of the Aetna Business Auto policy sets forth the schedule of coverage as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"ITEM TWO. SCHEDULE OF COVERAGES AND COVERED AUTOS — This policy provides only those coverages where a charge is shown in the advance premium column
below. Each of these coverages will apply to only those autos shown as covered autos. Autos are shown as covered autos for a particular coverage by the entry of
one or more of the symbols from ITEM THREE next to the name of the coverage. 

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
521 So. 2d 1241, 1988 WL 16546, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stewart-v-robinson-lactapp-1988.