Tomlinson v. Landmark American Insurance Co.

192 So. 3d 153, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0276, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 579, 2016 WL 1165434
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 23, 2016
DocketNo. 2015-CA-0276
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 192 So. 3d 153 (Tomlinson v. Landmark American 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
Tomlinson v. Landmark American Insurance Co., 192 So. 3d 153, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0276, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 579, 2016 WL 1165434 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinions

SANDRA CABRINA JENKINS, Judge.

h Sharon Tomlinson (“Mrs. Tomlinson”) appeals the trial court judgment granting summary judgment in favor of Daisy Dukes Restaurant, LLC (“Daisy Dukes”) and its insurer Landmark American Insurance Company (“Landmark”).

First, we find that' there is no factual support that Daisy Dukes intentionally destroyed evidence for the purpose of depriving Mrs. Tomlinson of its use at trial. Second, we find that there are genuine issues of material fact as to Daisy Dukes’ liability. Therefore, we affirm the motion for summary judgment as to the spoliation claim and reverse the motion1 for summary judgment "as to the issue of liability.

Before we proceed with our explanation of our holding, we address a procedural matter concerning the lack of decre-tal language in 'the judgment granting Daisy Dukes’ and Landmark’s motions for summary judgment. The judgment which Mrs. Tomlinson wishes to appeal merely provides, “Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment Regarding Plaintiff’s Claims for Spoliation of Evidence and Impairment of a Civil Action is granted”; and “Defendants’ Motion |2for Summary Judgment as to liability is granted.” This judgment failed to decree the dismissal of Mrs. Tomlinson’s lawsuit with prejudice. The absence of this necessary decretal language means that the judgment is not final and appealable, and thus for us to reach the merits of this appeal we must exercise our supervisory, rather than appellate, jurisdiction. See La. Const, art. V, 10(A).

We cannot determine the merits of an appeal unless our jurisdiction is properly invoked by a final judgment. Bd. Of Supervisors of La. State Univ. & Mech. College v. Mid-City Holdings, L.L.C., 14-0506, p. 2 (La.App. 4 Cir. 10/15/14); 151 So.3d 908, 910. “A judgment is the deter mination of the rights of the parties in an action, and may award relief to which the parties are entitled.” La.Code Civ. P. art. 1841. A valid judgment must be precise, definite and certain. The quality of definiteness is essential to a proper judgment. Bd. Of Supervisors, 14-0506, p. 910; 151 So.3d at 910.

A final judgment shall be identified as such by appropriate language. La.Code Civ. P. art. 1918. “A final appealable judgment must contain decretal language that names the party in favor of whom the ruling is ordered, the party against whom the ruling is ordered, and the relief that is granted or denied. Bd. Of Supervisors, 14-0506, pp. 2-3; 151 So.3d at 910. The specific relief granted should be determinable from the judgment without reference to an extrinsic sourced such as pleadings or reasons for judgment.” Id.

Because the judgment from which Mrs. Tomlinson appealed is “lacking [157]*157in definitive decretal language necessary for the exercise of our appellate jurisdiction, lathe appellant is not entitled as of right to appellate review, but may nonetheless invoke our supervisory jurisdiction, which is discretionary with us to grant.” Id.; La.Code Civ. P. art. 2201. The Louisiana Constitution of 1974 provides intermediate appellate courts with both appellate and supervisory jurisdiction. Bd. Of Supervisors, 14-0506, p. 3; 151 So.3d at 910; La. Const, art. V, § 10(A). “The difference between supervisory jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction is that the former is discretionary on the part of the appellate court while the latter is invoká-ble by the litigant as a matter of right.” Bd. Of Supervisors, 14-0506, p. 3; 151 So.3d at 910-11.

In some cases, when we are confronted with a judgment in an appellate context that is not final and appealable, we are authorized to exercise our discretion to convert that appeal to an application for supervisory review. Bd. Of Supervisors, 14-0506, pp. 3-4; 151 So.3d at 911.

We have decided to exercise our discretion and convert Mrs. Tomlinson’s appeal to an application for supervisory review, which we grant.

We now turn to the merits of the substantive issues before us.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

' On March 21, 2012, Mrs. Tomlinson filed suit against Daisy Dukes and Landmark for a slip and fall that occurred on May 1, 2011. Mrs. Tomlinson testified that she was on her way to be seated in the restaurant when she stepped off a commercial rug and onto the wooden floor and fell. As a result, she sustained injuries to her left knee and left side of her body.

LAfter Mrs. Tomlinson was helped off the floor, a Daisy Dukes employee retrieved another commercial rug and placed it over the area where Mrs. Tomlinson fell. Mrs. Tomlinson also testified that after she fell a waitress explained that as an employee she was required to wear certain shoes at work because the floor was “very slick.”

Mrs. Tomlinson later asked to fill out an accident report and to speak, with the manager. However the manager, Ryan Richardson (“Mr. Richardson”), was not present at the time. Additionally, the restaurant did not have accident report forms, nor did it have a policy or procedure in effect for reporting accidents. Mrs. Tomlinson was given Mr. Richardson’s business card, left her contact information with a Daisy Dukes employee, and was informed that Mr. Richardson would call her.

Mrs. Tomlinson’s co-worker, Anita Wals-worth (“Ms. Walsworth”), provided an affidavit stating that she accompanied Mrs. Tomlinson to Daisy Dukes the day of the accident. Although she did not witness the fall, Ms. Walsworth stated that she immediately went to Mrs. Tomlinson’s aid on the floor of the restaurant. Ms. Wals-worth noted that “[a]t that time, [she] noticed that the portion of the wooden floor where Mrs, Tomlinson fell was very slippery.” She also confirmed that a Daisy Dukes employee placed “an industrial-type rug/mat over the portion of the wooden floor where [Mrs. Tomlinson fell].”

Mrs. Tomlinson informed her supervisor about the accident at Daisy Dukes later the same day, and her supervisor called Mr. Richardson twice. The first time, |fiMrs. Tomlinson’s supervisor left a message. Mrs. Tomlinson’s supervisor called a second time the next day (May 2, 2011) when she did not receive a return phoné call. On May 2, 2011, Mr. Richardson returned the supervisor’s call and asked that. Mrs. Tomlinson contact him. Thereafter, he spoke with Mrs. Tomlinson and [158]*158told her she would receive “some papers at home from Landmark.” Two days later, Mrs. Tomlinson received a call from a representative at Landmark, who told Mrs. Tomlinson to seek medical attention.

In her original petition, Mrs. Tomlinson sought damages for injuries sustained to her left-knee, including a fractured knee cap and injuries to her left hip, requiring continued medical treatment. Mrs. Tom-linson also filed a supplemental petition for damages asserting a claim for Spoliation of evidence relative to the surveillance video of her fall and impairment of a civil action.

Daisy Dükes filed motions for summary judgment on Mrs. Tomlinson’s spoliation and liability claims, which Mrs, Tomlinson opposed.' On December 13, 2013, the trial court held a hearing on the motions for summary judgment. The trial court determined that Daisy Dukes’ destruction of the video surveillance was' done in “the normal course of business' and was not‘willful in nature,” and granted Daisy Dukes’ summary judgment motion on spoliation.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
192 So. 3d 153, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0276, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 579, 2016 WL 1165434, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tomlinson-v-landmark-american-insurance-co-lactapp-2016.