Wholesale Auto Group, Inc. v. The Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission and The Louisiana Used Motor Vehicle Commission

STATE OF LOUISIANA

COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

WHOLESALE AUTO GROUP, INC. NO. 2019 CW 0747

VERSUS

THE LOUISIANA MOTOR VEHICLE
COMMISSION AND THE LOUISIANA
USED MOTOR VEHICLE COMMISSION OCT 2 8 2019

In Re: Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission, for
applying
supervisory writs, 19th Judicial District Court,
Parish of East Baton Rouge, No. 678659.

BEFORE: WHIPPLE, C. J., MCDONALD, McCLENDON, THERIOT, AND
CHUTZ, JJ.

WRIT GRANTED. The trial court' s May 24, 2019 judgment
denying the
defendant' s, Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission' s,
Exception of Improper Venue and Exception of Improper Joinder of
Parties/ Improper Cumulation of Actions, is hereby reversed. We
find that La. R. S. 32: 1253( H) dictates Jefferson Parish as the
mandatory venue for the Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission and

that the ancillary venue doctrine as articulated in Underwood v.
Lane Memorial Hosp., 97- 1997 ( La. 7/ 8/ 98), 714 So. 2d 715, and

Black v. St. Tammany Parish Hasp., 2008- 2670 ( La. 11/ 6/ 09), 25
So. 3d 711, is not applicable to the present case because La.
R. S. 32: 1253( H) provides Jefferson Parish as the mandatory venue
for the Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission and La. R. S. 32: 783
provides East Baton Rouge Parish as for the
the mandatory venue
Louisiana Used Motor Vehicle Commission. Under La. Code Civ. P.
art. 464, the action against the Louisiana Motor Vehicle
Commission is dismissed because it was improperly joined to the
plaintiff' s, Wholesale Auto Group' s, action against the
Louisiana Used Motor Vehicle Commission.

VGW
JMM
PMC
MRT

Chutz, J.,
dissents and would deny the writ.

COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

DEPUTY CLERK OF COURT
FOR THE COURT