Jeremy Lanoux v. Daniel Guitreau, Jr., and Shelter General Insurance Company

STATE OF LOUISIANA

COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

JEREMY LANOUX NO. 2021 CW 0142

VERSUS CONSOLIDATED WITH

DANIEL GUITREAU, JR., AND NO. 2021 CW 0215
SHELTER GENERAL INSURANCE
COMPANY CONSOLIDATED WITH

NO. 2021 CW 0324
Page 1 of 3

JUNE 23, 2021

In Re: Daniel Guitreau, Jr., Shelter General Insurance

Company, and Daniel Guitreau, Sr., applying for

supervisory writs, 23rd Judicial. District Court,
Parish of Ascension, No. 120680.

BEFORE: THERIOT, WOLFE, AND HESTER, JJ.

WRIT GRANTED. The portion of the trial court' s
February
18, 2021 judgment which denied, in part, the motion for summary
judgment filed by defendant, Daniel Guitreau, Jr., is reversed.

Generally, an owner of a vehicle is not personally liable for
damages which occur while another is operating the vehicle.

Stokes v. Stewart, 99- 0878 ( La. App. lst Cir. 12/ 22/ 00), 774
So. 2d 1215, 1218. Exceptions to this rule occur only when the
driver is on a mission for the owner of the vehicle, when the
driver is an agent or employee of the owner, and when the owner

is himself negligent in entrusting the vehicle to an incompetent
driver. Id. Under the negligent entrustment theory, the lender
of a vehicle is not responsible for the negligence of the
borrower, unless he had or should have had knowledge that the
borrower was physically or mentally incompetent to drive. Id.
at 1219. In this case, plaintiff, Jeremy Lanoux, alleges Daniel
Guitreau, Jr. is liable for negligently entrusting a zero -turn
lawn mower to defendant, Jamie Johnson, who allegedly drove the
subject lawn mower into the plaintiff' s leg. In his motion for
summary judgment, Daniel Guitreau, Jr. pointed out an absence of
evidence as to his knowledge that Jamie Johnson was physically
or mentally incompetent to operate the zero - turn lawnmower at

issue. Plaintiff, Jeremy Lanoux, failed to present sufficient

evidence to establish the existence of a genuine issue of

material fact as to Daniel Guitreau, Jr.' s knowledge that Jamie
Johnson was physically or mentally incompetent to operate the
lawn mower at the time of entrustment, or as to Daniel Guitreau,
Jr.' s liability under any other theory of negligence. See La.
Code Civ. P. arts. 966 ( A) ( 3) and ( D) ( 1) . See also Stokes, 774
So. 2d at 1220; Sterling v. Allstate Ins. Co., 2009- 1191 ( La.

App. 1st Cir. 2/ 12/ 10), 35 So. 3d 355, 359. Accordingly, Daniel
Guitreau, Jr.' s motion for summary judgment is granted, and

plaintiff' s, Jeremy Lanoux' s, claims against him are dismissed
with prejudice.

STATE OF LOUISIANA

COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

No. 2021 CW 0142

CONSOLIDATED WITH

NO. 2021 CW 0215

CONSOLIDATED WITH

NO. 2021 CW 0324

Page 2 of 3

The trial court' s February 2, 2021 judgment which denied
the motion for summary judgment filed by defendant, Shelter
General Insurance Company, is reversed. Interpretation of an

insurance policy usually involves a legal question, which can be
resolved properly in the framework of a motion for
summary
judgment. Bonin v. Westport Ins. Corp., 2005- 0886 ( La.
5/ 17/ 06), 930 So. 2d 906, 910.
An insurance policy is a contract
between the parties and should be construed by using the general
rules of interpretation of contracts set forth in the Louisiana
Civil Code. LeBlanc v. Aysenne, 2005- 0297 ( La. 1/ 19/ 06), 921
So. 2d 85, 89. The Civil Code provides that interpretation of a
contract is the determination of the common intent of the
parties and when the words of a contract are clear and explicit

and lead to no absurd consequences, no further interpretation
may be made in search of the parties' intent. La. Civ. Code
arts. 2045 and 2046. In its motion for summary judgment,
Shelter General Insurance Company pointed out an absence of

evidence to establish that Jamie Johnson is an insured under the
homeowners insurance policy Shelter General Insurance Company
issued to Daniel Guitreau, Jr. The evidence attached to Shelter
General Insurance Company' s motion for summary judgment,
including the plain language of the subject policy, makes clear

Jamie Johnson is not an insured under the terms of the policy.
See Robertson v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Ins. Co., 629 So. 2d 445 ( La.

App. 3d Cir. 1993). In addition, this court has dismissed with
prejudice plaintiff' s claims against Daniel Guitreau, Jr., and

accordingly, Shelter General Insurance Company bears no

liability in this matter.
Accordingly, Shelter General
Insurance Company' s motion for summary judgment is granted, and

plaintiff' s, Jeremy Lanoux' s, claims against it are dismissed
with prejudice.

The trial court' s March 3, 2021 judgment which denied the
motion for summary judgment filed by defendant, Daniel Guitreau,
Sr., is reversed. The owner or custodian of a thing is
answerable for damage occasioned by its vice or defect only upon
a
showing that he knew or, in the exercise of reasonable care,
should have known of the vice or defect which caused the damage,
that the damage have been the
could prevented by exercise of

reasonable care, and that he failed to exercise such reasonable
care. La. Civ. Code art. 2317. 1. In his motion for summary
judgment, Daniel Guitreau, Sr. pointed out an absence of

evidence to establish that the zero -turn lawn mower owned by
him, and operated by Jamie Johnson at the time of plaintiff' s
alleged injuries, contained a vice or defect.

STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

NO. 2021 CW 0142

CONSOLIDATED WITH

NO. 2021 CW 0215

CONSOLIDATED WITH

NO. 2021 CW 0324

PAGE 3 OF 3

Daniel Guitreau, Sr. further pointed out an absence of evidence

demonstrating that he negligently entrusted the subject lawn
mower to Jamie Johnson. Plaintiff, Lanoux, failed
Jeremy to
present
any evidence to establish that the subject lawn mower

contained a vice or defect. Plaintiff also failed to present

sufficient evidence to establish the existence of a genuine

issue of material fact as to Daniel Guitreau, Sr.' s knowledge
that Jamie Johnson was or incompetent to
physically mentally
operate the lawn mower at the time of entrustment. See Stokes,
774 So. 2d at 1220; Sterling, 35 So. 3d 359.
at
Accordingly,
Daniel Guitreau, Sr.' s motion for judgment is
summary granted,

and plaintiff' s, Lanoux' s,
Jeremy claims against him are

dismissed with prejudice.

MRT

EW
CHH

COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

q/ DEPUTY CLERK OF
FOR THE
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COURT
COURT