Price v. North

331 So.3d 959

Walter W. PRICE and Mysterie Price, Both Individually and on Behalf of Minor Child, F.P.

v.Darryl NORTH, Edward North, Monica North and Patrice Hookfin

NO. 2021 CA 0236

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

Judgment Rendered: OCTOBER 18, 2021

Steven Edward Adams, Baton Rouge, LA, Attorney for Plaintiffs-Appellants, Mysterie Price (Trahan) and F.P.

Michael Gerard Lemoine, Lafayette, LA, Attorney for Defendants-Appellees, Jones Creek Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, Baton Rouge, LA Inc. and Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.

Alexis Myshrall Breedlove, Sydnee F. Menou, Michael P. Colvin, Baton Rouge, LA, Attorneys for Defendants-Appellees, Darryl North, Edward North, Monica North and Patrice Hookfin

Brad J. Brumfield, London, KY, Julie N. deGeneres, Baton Rouge, LA, Attorney for Intervenor-Appellee, State Farm Insurance Company

BEFORE: WHIPPLE, C.J., PENZATO, AND HESTER, JJ.

HESTER, J.

Plaintiffs, F.P.¹ and Mysterie Price, her mother, appeal a trial court judgment granting the peremptory exceptions asserting the objections of no cause of action and prescription filed by defendants, Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc. and Jones Creek Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, Baton Rouge, LA, Inc. (f/k/a Sherwood Forest Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses), and dismissing all of plaintiffs’ claims against these defendants, with prejudice and at plaintiffs’ cost. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On May 23, 2003, thirteen-year-old F.P. was entrusted into the care of twenty-year-old Patrice Hookfin. F.P. and Patrice were set to distribute religious materials door-to-door early the next morning for their church, so F.P. was allowed by her parents to stay with Patrice overnight. That evening, instead of bringing F.P. to the Hookfin home, Patrice took F.P. to the home of Edward and Monica North where their son, Darryl North, was residing at the time. Darryl was home with two friends, Sebastian Bracey and Darrell Bickham, all of whom were consuming alcoholic beverages. Patrice instructed F.P. to go to an upstairs bedroom and wait for her; however, Darryl was already in the bedroom and persuaded F.P. to consume alcoholic beverages. F.P. lost consciousness and awoke the next morning. It is believed that F.P. was sexually assaulted by Darryl North, Sebastian Bracey, Darrell Bickham, and possibly two other individuals while at the North home.

Despite never being at the Hookfin home, Margaret Hookfin, Patrice's mother, lied to F.P.’s mother, stating that Patrice and F.P. left the Hookfin home at 7:30 a.m. on May 24, 2003 to begin their service work. Later in the day on May 24, 2003, F.P. was finally returned home to her mother. At this time, F.P. was still incoherent but began to realize what had happened to her the night before. Mysterie took F.P. to the hospital where an examination of F.P. revealed that she had been sexually assaulted and a blood analysis indicated that F.P.’s blood alcohol level was 7.0 mg/dL.

Walter² and Mysterie Price, individually, and on behalf of their minor child, F.P., filed their initial petition for damages on May 21, 2004, naming Darryl North, his parents Edward and Monica North,³ and Patrice Hookfin as defendants. Plaintiffs sought damages for the injuries to F.P., as well as bystander damages pursuant to La. Civ. Code art. 2315.6. Through subsequent pleadings and motions, plaintiffs joined as defendants Darrell Bickham, Sebastian Bracey, and the Norths’ homeowner's insurer, State Farm Insurance Company. In the first supplemental and amending petition, F.P. was substituted as plaintiff in her own right, after attaining the age of majority.

In the second supplemental and amending petition filed on November 12, 2015, the remaining plaintiffs, Mysterie Price and F.P., added as defendants Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York, Inc. ("WBTS"), a national corporation utilized by Jehovah's Witnesses, and Jones Creek Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, Baton Rouge, LA, Inc. (f/k/a Sherwood Forest Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses) (the "Congregation") (sometimes hereinafter collectively referred to as "defendants"). Plaintiffs were members of the Congregation and identified Frank Boley, Timothy Brown, and Paul Wood as members and agents of the board of directors of the Congregation. Plaintiffs alleged that their injuries were proximately caused by the negligence of WBTS and the Congregation, noting that Boley, one of the Congregation's board members, admitted to knowing about problems with Patrice and knowing that she was a predator who sought out people having problems.

In response to the second supplemental and amending petition, WBTS and the Congregation filed a peremptory exception raising the objection no cause of action, asserting that plaintiffs had not stated a cause of action against them for negligence or for bystander damages under La. Civ. Code art. 2315.6. The trial court overruled the exception as to the negligence claim and sustained the exception as to the claim for bystander damages. However, plaintiffs were given the opportunity to amend their petition to state a cause of action for bystander damages, which was done pursuant to a third supplemental and amending petition.

WBTS and the Congregation applied to this court for supervisory review of the trial court's failure to sustain the peremptory exception raising the objection no cause of action as to the negligence claims. On review, this court granted the writ, finding that plaintiffs’ petitions failed to allege facts sufficient to prove the existence of a legal duty on the part of defendants and that defendants could not be liable for plaintiffs’ damages incurred as a result of the tortious acts of third parties, negligent misrepresentation, or negligent supervision absent allegations of some special relationship among the parties giving rise to a legal duty. Price v. North, 2017-0402 (La. App. 1st Cir. 5/26/17), 2017 WL 2303595, *1 (unpublished writ action). After reversing the trial court's ruling and sustaining the exception, this court remanded the case with instructions to the trial court to issue an order granting plaintiffs the opportunity to amend their petitions to state a cause of action, if they could, pursuant to La. Code Civ. P. art. 934. Id.

On remand, plaintiffs filed a fourth supplemental and amending petition,⁴ recasting all allegations as set forth in the pleading.⁵ Plaintiffs added allegations that WBTS and the Congregation "were in a ‘special relationship’ with [p]laintiffs and were impressed with a duty to warn foreseeable victims of the foreseeable harm which might result from Patrice Hookfin[’]s actions and inactions." Further, plaintiffs alleged that defendants were negligent in failing to warn of Patrice's known poor moral character and judgment. Plaintiff concluded that "as a direct and proximate result of [defendants’] negligent appointment[,] designation[,] supervision[,] and retention of [d]efendant Patrice Hookfin as a group leader and supervisor of minor children church volunteers, [p]laintiffs incurred the damages as alleged herein."

In response to plaintiffs’ second, third, and fourth supplemental and amending petitions, WBTS and the Congregation filed peremptory exceptions raising the objections of no cause of action and prescription. Regarding the objection of no cause of action, defendants maintained that the petitions failed to state a cause of action against them for the damages from the sexual assault of F.P. by third parties, as there was no special relationship between defendants and the perpetrator or defendant and F.P. giving rise to such duty alleged in the petitions. Defendants also maintained that there were no allegations that an agency or employment relationship existed between defendants and Patrice Hookfin, and no cause of action was stated against defendants rendering defendants vicariously liable for the actions of Patrice. Further, defendants maintained that there was no viable claim for clergy malpractice, and plaintiffs had no cause of action for failure to report the sexual assault of F.P.⁶ Defendants maintained that F.P.’s mother, Mysterie, had no cause of action for bystander damages pursuant to La. Civ. Code art. 2315.6 because there were no allegations that she either viewed the tortious event or came upon the scene of the alleged event soon thereafter. Additionally, defendants submitted that the claims of clergy malpractice asserted in the petitions were prescribed or should be dismissed for plaintiffs’ failure to obtain leave of court to assert a new cause of action as required by La. Code Civ. P. art. 1151.

Plaintiffs opposed defendants’ exceptions, and the trial court heard the matter on October 13, 2020. After the hearing, the trial court ruled that "all of the exceptions are sustained," specifically finding that the petitions failed to state a cause of action for the clergy relationship claims or bystander damages, and that no special relationship was alleged in the petitions. On November 4, 2020, the trial court issued a judgment granting the peremptory exception raising the objections of no cause of action and prescription filed by WBTS and the Congregation and dismissing all of plaintiffs’ claims against these defendants, with prejudice.

From this judgment, plaintiffs appeal and assign as error the following: (1) the trial court erred in granting the peremptory exception raising the objection of no cause of action without considering the multiple facts of the tort claims alleged by plaintiffs; (2) the trial court erred in granting the peremptory exception raising the objection of prescription with no discussion or any oral reasons given;⁷ (3) the trial court erred in refusing plaintiffs’ counsel equal or adequate time to argue their position;⁸ and (4) the trial court erred in not allowing plaintiffs the opportunity to timely amend their fourth petition after granting the...