Ducote v. Frank
Ducote v. Frank
Opinion of the Court
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
W.E. McDonald & Sons, LLC, its insurer, Transcontinental Insurance Company, and its employee, Tony Frank, appeal the judgment of the trial court granting a partial summary judgment on the issue of liability in favor of Bessie Ducote and her brother, Horace Gagnard. For the reasons assigned below, we affirm the decision of the trial court.
STATEMENT OF THE FACTS
On May 22, 2004, Bessie Ducote was driving her 1995 Ford Escort northbound on Louisiana Highway 107. Her brother, Horace Gagnard, was a guest passenger in her vehicle and they were on their way to the hospital in Pineville to visit Horace’s wife. As they approached a roadway construction area, Ms. Ducote was stopped by a flagman, Tommy Buxton, an employee of W.E. McDonald & Sons, LLC (McDonald).
The depositions of State Trooper Ragan Lewis, Bessie Ducote, Horace Gagnard, Darlene Cloud, and Tony Frank were taken. The deposition of the flagman, Tommy Buxton, was scheduled, and he was properly served, but he failed to honor the subpoena. Mr. Buxton no longer works for McDonald. The trial court granted the Plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of liability. Thereafter, the Defendants filed a Motion for a New Trial based on the deposition testimony of Roy Wilson, a McDonald employee. After review of Mr. Wilson’s testimony, the trial court denied the Defendants’ Motion for a New Trial. The Defendants appeal the judgment of the trial court asserting, first, the partial summary judgment was premature because discovery was not yet complete; and, second, there is a genuine dispute as to whether Ms. Ducote was partially at fault in causing the accident.
LAW AND DISCUSSION
Prematurity
The Defendants assert the partial summary judgment was premature because at the time of the filing of the motion, discovery was not yet complete because the depositions of Darlene Cloud, Tony Frank and Tommy Buxton had not yet been taken. However, the record indicates, prior to the hearing on the motion, the depositions of Darlene Cloud and Tony Frank were taken, which testimony was considered by the trial court. In granting the motion for partial summary judgment, the trial court stated:
I was also concerned about the prematurity. That’s another factor because I think it’s a ... it’s an important point and had these two other depositions not been taken I would have a lot of concern about that, but they have been taken, so now we’re faced with the only one that’s really important to me is Bux-ton and he’s nowhere to be found, but he was a McDonald’s employee. He knows what was going on and they know what was going on. No one has told me anything that would indicate to me that he’s gonna say anything .that’s gonna change this. As far as I’m concerned the liability rest whether or not she was waived over and whether or not the guy backed into her, which have ... no one has given me anything to controvert that, so I think that liability is clear at this point and I’m gonna grant the motion for summary judgment. ,
We agree with the trial court and find no merit in Defendants argument. More
Partial Summary Judgment and Motion for a New Trial
The Defendants contend the trial court erred because the deposition testimony of Roy Wilson presents a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether Ms. Ducote’s actions placed her in a dangerous position and, therefore, contributed to the accident. We have reviewed the deposition testimony, particularly that of Mr. Wilson, and we conclude there is no genuine dispute that McDonald’s employees were solely at fault in causing the accident.
There is no dispute that McDonald’s flagman, Mr. Buxton, directed Ms. Ducote to proceed into the southbound lane. At the time, Roy Wilson, an employee of McDonald, was in the northbound construction lane, driving a motor grader. He was about one hundred feet behind Ms. Ducote and saw Mr. Buxton direct Ms. Ducote into the construction area. He also observed the pace car driver, Ms. Cloud, approach Ms. Ducote and motion for her to move into the northbound construction lane to allow the traffic to proceed. He testified after the pace car and fifteen other cars passed, the southbound lane was clear of traffic and Ms. Ducote could have moved back into the southbound lane and traveled out of the construction area. Instead, he testified, she remained in the northbound lane and began following the caterpillar road grader or sheep’s foot as it moved forward. When the road grader began backing up, it hit Ms. Du-cote’s vehicle. The Defendants rely on Mr. Wilson’s testimony to assert Ms. Du-cote could have moved into the southbound lane, out of harm’s way; and she, therefore, could have avoided the accident. Additionally, the Defendants’ argue Ms. Du-cote was following too closely behind the grader. We disagree.
Initially, it should be noted, Mr. Wilson testified at the time of the accident, he was approximately three hundred feet away from the road grader. From that distance, it is unlikely he was able to tell how close the grader was from Ms. Ducote’s vehicle. The testimony indicates Ms. Du-cote was stopped in the northbound lane, between the road grader and an unoccupied construction tractor parked behind her.
McDonald was in control of the state highway and had a duty to motorists to move the traffic safely in and out of the construction area. The risk of a collision with a piece of construction equipment is foreseeable and is within the scope of the duty owed to a motorist. Ms. Ducote and Mr. Gagnard were injured because a McDonald employee directed them into the construction area without taking proper precautions to ensure that they would be able to proceed safely to the other side. Moreover, the pace car driver, Ms. Cloud, directed Ms. Ducote onto a unpaved roadbed which the driver knew, or should have known, was unsafe for motorists to maneuver without McDonald taking proper steps to protect them from encountering numerous hazards existing at the construction site. Mr. Frank, another McDonald employee, failed to notice Ms. Ducote stopped behind him, and he backed into the front of her vehicle. Ms. Ducote was under the direction and control of McDonald from the moment she proceeded into the construction area. Further, McDonald was in a superior position to prevent the accident. Maldonado v. Louisiana Superdome Comm’n, 95-2490 (La.App. 4 Cir.
DECREE
Based on the foregoing review of the record, we affirm the decision of the trial court. All costs of this appeal are assessed to the Defendants.
AFFIRMED.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.