Opinion
2024 CW 0188
04-19-2024
KIMBERLY SCOTT v. DEONNA DODD AND STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
Deonna Dodd and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, applying for supervisory writs, 19th Judicial District Court, Parish of East Baton Rouge, No. 654612.
BEFORE: THERIOT, PENZATO, AND GREENE, JJ.
WRIT GRANTED. The district court's February 23, 2024 judgment that granted the motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of medical causation filed by Plaintiff, Kimberly Scott, is reversed. The cause-in-fact element of a negligence action is a fact-specific inquiry. See Malta v. Herbert S. Hiller Corporation, 2021-00209 (La. 12/10/21), 333 So.3d 384, 398. This element requires a determination of whether the harm would have occurred but for the defendant's alleged substandard conduct, or, when concurrent causes are involved, such as here, whether the defendant's conduct was a substantial factor in bringing about the harm. Aucoin v. Larpenter, 2021-0064 (La.App. 1st Cir. 9/20/21), 329 So.3d 363, 369, writ denied, 2021-01505 (La. 12/7/21), 328 So.3d 420. As noted in the district court's judgment, the extent and duration of any aggravation of Plaintiff's pre-existing condition and/or the necessity of any surgery as a result of the subject accident are questions of fact to be decided at the trial on the merits. Therefore, Plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment seeking a judgment declaring "[t]he automobile accident of February 12, 2016 [,] caused the neck and back symptoms for which Kimberly Scott has undergone conservative and interventional care along with 'four large back surgeries'" (emphasis in original) necessarily involves issues of material fact. Thus, we find Plaintiff is not entitled to summary judgment, as genuine issues of material fact remain. See La. Code Civ. P. art. 966(A) (3). Accordingly, Plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of medical causation is denied.
MRT
AHP
HG