Opinion
NO. 2015 CA 0047
09-18-2015
CONSTANTIN LAND TRUST v. PITRE INDUSTRIES, LLC
Robert S. Reich Jerald L. Album Metairie, Louisiana Attorneys for Plaintiffs/Appellants, The Trustees of Constantin Land Trust Daniel A. Cavell Thibodaux, Louisiana and Richard W. Martinez New Orleans, Louisiana Attorneys for Defendant/Appellee, Pitre Industries, LLC Marshall M. Redmon Heather S. Duplantis Kate B. Mire Baton Rouge, Louisiana Attorneys for Defendants/Appellees, Essex Insurance Co. and Market Service Incorporated Gerald A. Melchiode Benjamin R. Grau Blake W. Bourgeois New Orleans, Louisiana Attorneys for Intervenor/Appellee, Benjamin R. Grau
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
On Appeal from The 17th Judicial District Court, Parish of Lafourche, State of Louisiana
Trial Court No. 124207
The Honorable F. Hugh Larose, Judge Presiding
Robert S. Reich
Jerald L. Album
Metairie, Louisiana
Attorneys for Plaintiffs/Appellants,
The Trustees of Constantin Land
Trust
Daniel A. Cavell
Thibodaux, Louisiana
and
Richard W. Martinez
New Orleans, Louisiana
Attorneys for Defendant/Appellee,
Pitre Industries, LLC
Marshall M. Redmon
Heather S. Duplantis
Kate B. Mire
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Attorneys for Defendants/Appellees,
Essex Insurance Co. and Market
Service Incorporated
Gerald A. Melchiode
Benjamin R. Grau
Blake W. Bourgeois
New Orleans, Louisiana
Attorneys for Intervenor/Appellee,
Benjamin R. Grau
BEFORE: PETTIGREW, HIGGINBOTHAM, AND CRAIN, JJ. CRAIN, J.
This is an appeal of the trial court's November 3, 2014 judgment denying a request for preliminary injunction. We affirm.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The facts and procedural history of this litigation are more fully set forth in the companion appeal to this matter, Constantin Land Trust v. Pitre Industries, 15-0046 (La. App. 1 Cir. 9/___/15) (unpublished opinion), also decided this date. Generally, Pitre Industries LLC leases property known as the "Texaco Dock" from Constantin Land Trust (CLT), and the parties are engaged in ongoing litigation regarding the lease. The companion appeal concerns CLT's request for injunctive relief pursuant to Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure article 3601, based upon Pitre's alleged failure to comply with a provision of the lease requiring that it procure public liability insurance listing CLT as a named insured. The trial court found that CLT failed to make the requisite showing of irreparable harm and denied CLT's request for preliminary injunction.
The petition was filed on behalf of CLT and its trustees, with CLT appearing through its trustees. For ease of reference, we collectively refer to CLT and its trustees as "CLT."
After the trial court rendered the judgment at issue in the companion appeal, CLT filed the instant suit, again seeking an injunction based upon Pitre's alleged failure to comply with the provision of the lease requiring Pitre to procure public liability insurance listing CLT as a named insured. This suit, however, seeks relief under Louisiana Civil Code article 2686, which permits injunctive relief due to the lessee's misuse of the thing leased. The trial court denied this second request for injunctive relief, stating that it would be an abuse of authority for it to render a preliminary injunction without a full trial on the merits. CLT appeals.
The judgment on the preliminary injunction is interlocutory; however, a party aggrieved by a judgment either granting or denying a preliminary injunction is entitled to an appeal. La. Code Civ. Pro. art. 3612B; Hill v. Jindal, 14-1757 (La. App. 1 Cir. 6/17/15), ___ So. 3d ___, ___ (2015WL3883506).
DISCUSSION
The lessee is bound to use the thing leased as a prudent administrator in accordance with the purpose for which the thing was leased. La. Civ. Code art. 2683. "If the lessee uses the thing for a purpose other than that for which it was leased or in a manner that may cause damage to the thing, the lessor may obtain injunctive relief, dissolution of the lease, and any damages he may have sustained." La. Civ. Code art. 2686. The lessor need not show irreparable harm to obtain an injunction under Article 2686. La. Civ. Code art. 2686, Revision Comments - 2004 (c). However, relief under Article 2686 is left to the discretion of the court. La. Civ. Code art. 2686, Revision Comments - 2004 (b); see also Tolar v. Spillers, 43,849 (La. App. 2 Cir. 1/14/09), 2 So. 3d 560, 564. Accordingly, the trial court's ruling with regard to the relief warranted under Article 2686 will not be disturbed on review unless a clear abuse of discretion has been shown. See Hill v. Jindal, 14-1757 (La. App. 1 Cir. 6/17/15), ___ So. 3d ___, ___ (2015WL3883506).
CLT argues that the trial court abused its discretion in failing to issue an injunction as requested because Pitre's failure to procure public liability insurance listing CLT as a named insured constitutes use of the thing leased in a manner that may cause damage to it. Pitre counters that the existence or nonexistence of an insurance policy cannot harm or damage the thing, which in this case is immovable property. We agree. In fact, in the companion appeal, CLT argued that it, not the property, suffered irreparable harm because Pitre's failure to procure public liability insurance listing CLT as a named insured "opened CLT up to third party lawsuits arising out of Pitre's use of the property." Considering the record before us, we find that CLT failed to establish that the allegedly inadequate insurance was either a misuse of the Texaco Dock or was a use of the Texaco Dock in a matter that might damage the Texaco Dock. Consequently, we find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying injunctive relief under Article 2686.
Again in this appeal, we clarify that we have neither considered nor passed judgment on the merits of CLT's claims that Pitre has breached the terms of the lease with regard to insurance coverage. As the parties have represented to us, those issues will be resolved during the upcoming trial in docket number 117786. --------
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the November 3, 2014 judgment of the trial court is affirmed. Costs of this appeal are assessed to the Trustees of Constantin Land Trust.
AFFIRMED.