Kathleen Powell, Jeremy Phillips, Brandi Phillips, Donald Dawson, Barbara Dawson, Michael Montalbano, Evelyn Montalbano, Mitchell Kimball, and Katherine Kimball v. State of Louisiana through the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District, Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government, and Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority

STATE OF LOUISIANA

COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

KATHLEEN POWELL, JEREMY PHILLIPS, NO. 2021 CW 0933
BRANDI PHILLIPS, DONALD DAWSON,
BARBARA DAWSON, MICHAEL
MONTALBANO, EVELYN MONTALBANO,
MITCHELL KIMBALL, AND KATHERINE
KIMBALL

VERSUS

STATE OF LOUISIANA THROUGH THE
TERREBONNE LEVEE AND CONSERVATION
DISTRICT, TERREBONNE PARISH NOVEMBER 29, 2021
CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT, AND
COASTAL PROTECTION AND RESTORATION
AUTHORITY

In Re: Kathleen Powell, Jeremy Phillips, Brandi Phillips,
Donald Dawson, Barbara Dawson, Michael Montalbano,
Evelyn Montalbano, Mitchell Kimball, Katherine
Kimball, and Milton Constrantivitch, applying for

supervisory writs, 32nd Judicial District Court,
Parish of Terrebonne, No. 190344.

BEFORE: GUIDRYI HOLDRIDGE, AND CHUTZ, JJ.

WRIT GRANTED. The district court' s July 7, 2021 judgment
granting the motion to strike filed by Defendant, Terrebonne
Levee and Conservation District, is reversed. A court must deny
a motion to strike if there is
any question of fact or law.
Nationstar Mortg., LLC v. Schales, 2018- 439 ( La. App. 3d Cir.
12/ 12/ 18), 261 So. 3d 912, 918, citing Federal Deposit Ins. Corp.
v. Niblo, 821 F. Supp. 441 ( N. D. Tex. 1993). Matters involving
the interpretation of a statute present a question of law. See
Red Stick Studio Dev., L. L. C. v. State ex rel. Dept of Econ.
Dev., 2010- 0193 ( La. 1/ 19/ 11), 56 So. 3d 181, 187. A decision as
to whether the class action allegations in Plaintiffs' petitions

are appropriate necessarily requires the district court to
determine whether the Levee Taking Statute ( La. R. S. 38: 301, et

seq.) applies.
Accordingly, the district court abused its
discretion in granting Terrebonne Levee and Conservation
District' s ' Motion to Strike Class Action Allegations," which is
hereby denied.

JMG
WRC

Holdridge, J., concurs. Under La. Code Civ. P. art. 592, a

motion for a demand
certification for
of a class
action may be
stricken only if the proponent fails to file a timely motion for
certification within the delay allowed and only after a

contradictory hearing. A motion to strike is not the proper

procedural pleading in this case where the proponent has not yet
answered the petition and the plaintiffs have not filed a motion
to certify the class.

COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

r

DEPUTY CERK OF COURT
FOR THE COURT