Valois v. Village of Moreauville

103 So. 3d 1232, 2012 La.App. 3 Cir. 486, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1513
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 21, 2012
DocketNo. 12-486
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 103 So. 3d 1232 (Valois v. Village of Moreauville) 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
Valois v. Village of Moreauville, 103 So. 3d 1232, 2012 La.App. 3 Cir. 486, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1513 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

KEATY, Judge.

11Defendant appeals from a judgment in favor of Plaintiffs declaring Defendant vicariously liable for damages arising out of Mayor Lionel Bordelon’s (Mayor Borde-lon) actions in providing unreliable information which Plaintiffs relied on to their detriment. Damages in the amount of $53,706 were awarded. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs, Melissa Valois, Donovan Bor-delon, and Shelley Valois, allegedly formed an informal partnership around the fall of 2009 for the purposes of developing a trailer park within the Village of Moreauville (the Village). As part of their construction project, Plaintiffs desired to install sewage drainage lines and contacted the Village to arrange for an inspection of their proposed lines. The Village generally relies on three private inspectors to ensure compliance with the Village’s sewer use and water ordinances. In this case, there were no inspectors available at the time that Plaintiffs requested an inspection, so May- or Bordelon inspected the property. Plaintiffs did not hire a contractor or plumber to install the drainage lines for their commercial venture. Instead, Plaintiffs undertook to complete all of the necessary construction themselves.

Mayor Bordelon inspected the proposed commercial site on several occasions, usually after the installation of each stretch of line had been completed. Mayor Bordelon advised Plaintiffs that the finished drainage configuration, as installed by Plaintiffs, complied with the Village’s sewer use ordinance.

Plaintiffs alleged that sometime in early 2011, once the sewage and water lines were completed, they discovered through [1234]*1234an opinion of surveyor Jessie Lachney (Mr. Lachney) that the configuration of the lines in all likelihood would not be acceptable to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH). At |2the time of the trial of this matter, DHH had never inspected the site nor denied Plaintiffs a permit, as Plaintiffs had never submitted any plans to the DHH for review. Nonetheless, upon speaking with Mr. Lachney, Plaintiffs ceased construction at the commercial site.

Plaintiffs subsequently filed suit against the Village seeking monetary damages. Following a bench trial, the trial court ruled in favor of Plaintiffs. Defendant now appeals, contending the trial court was incorrect in granting Plaintiffs damages due to their reliance on Defendant’s representations to their detriment.

DISCUSSION

An appellate court may not set aside a trial court’s finding of fact in the absence of clear or manifest error. Lewis v. State, through Dep’t of Transp. and Dev., 94-2370 (La.4/21/95), 654 So.2d 311. The issue to be resolved by the appellate court is not whether the trier of fact was right or wrong but whether the fact finder’s conclusion was a reasonable one. Id. The fact finder’s choice between two conflicting permissible views of the evidence cannot be manifestly erroneous. Stobart v. State, through the Dep’t of Transp. and Dev., 617 So.2d 880 (La.1993). Where the testimony conflicts, the fact finder’s reasonable evaluations and reasonable inferences of fact should not be disturbed upon review by the appellate court. Rosell v. ESCO, 549 So.2d 840 (La.1989).

I. Immunity under La.R.S. 9:2798.1

Defendant alleges the trial court erred in failing to consider whether the Village was entitled to immunity pursuant to La. R.S. 9:2798.1 and in not finding that the Village is entitled to said immunity. Defendant contends that once the Village has proven the applicability of the immunity, which Defendant contends it has proven, the burden is upon Plaintiffs to defeat the Village’s entitlement to | oimmunity. To do so, Defendant alleges Plaintiffs must prove that Mayor Bordelon’s actions during this inspection process constituted “criminal, fraudulent, malicious, intentional, willful, outrageous, reckless, or flagrant misconduct.” Defendant contends there is no evidence to that effect. As such, Defendants insist that Plaintiffs’ claims against the Village based on the doctrine of re-spondeat superior should be dismissed pursuant to this statutory immunity.

Plaintiffs allege the trial court did not err in refusing to grant the Village immunity under La.R.S. 9:2798.1. Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:2798.1 provides, in pertinent part:

B. Liability shall not be imposed on public entities or their officers or employees based upon the exercise or performance or the failure to exercise or perform them policymaking or discretionary acts when such acts are within the course and scope of their lawful powers and duties.

The issue in the present matter is whether Mayor Bordelon stepped outside of the parameters created by La.R.S. 9:2798.1 when he allegedly took the role of sewage inspector. The record contains a copy of Section 1.22 of the Village’s sewage use ordinance, Ordinance # 12, which provides for a superintendent of water and sewage. With respect to the foregoing ordinance, Mayor Bordelon testified at tidal as follows:

Q. Okay. And the ordinances of the Village of Moreauville say that there’s supposed to be a Sewer ... or Sewage Superintendent. And I understand that [1235]*1235at the time she made an application and during her initial construction phase that you did not have a sewage superintendent. You were also kind of in between at that time. Correct?
A. That is correct, sir.
Q. And you individually filled in that role?
A. Yes, sir.
[[Image here]]
|4Q. Yes, sir. And Missy [Melissa Valois] would call you from time to time to come out so you could inspect what they had done?
A. Yes. They did it in phases.
[[Image here]]
Q. And then you did a final inspection as well and you told them that everything was okay?
A. Yes.

Based upon the above testimony contained in the record, we conclude that Mayor Bordelon stepped outside of these parameters when he took on the role of sewage inspector, a position that should have been assigned to someone else under the Village’s sewer ordinance. Under these circumstances, the trial court did not err in refusing to grant the Village immunity under La.R.S. 9:2798.1.

II. Detrimental Reliance

Defendant contends the trial court erred in finding that the Village was liable for damages based on the theory of detrimental reliance. Defendant argues that had the trial court considered the Village’s discretionary immunity defense and determined that it was not applicable, then the trial court should have analyzed Mayor Bordelon’s conduct under the duty-risk analysis. Under that analysis, Defendant alleges that there is no evidence to support Plaintiffs’ claim that Mayor Bordelon owed a duty to Plaintiffs to either advise them of other regulations that may govern their proposed water and drainage layout or to ensure that the drainage layout would comply with state regulatory provisions.

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103 So. 3d 1232, 2012 La.App. 3 Cir. 486, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1513, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/valois-v-village-of-moreauville-lactapp-2012.