Sauvage v. Meadowcrest Living Ctr., LLC
| Docket Number: | 2008-CA-02116-SCT | |
| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 02-25-2010 Opinion Author: Chandler, J. Holding: Affirmed |
|
| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Wrongful death - Suit pending in another state - Section 11-7-13 Judge(s) Concurring: Carlson, P.J., Dickinson, Randolph and Pierce, JJ. Judge(s) Concurring Separately: Dickinson, J., Specially Concurs with Separate Written Opinion Joined by Chandler, J. Dissenting Author : Kitchens, J., with separate written opinion. Dissent Joined By : Waller, C.J.; Graves, P.J., Joins In Part. Concurs in Result Only: Lamar, J. Procedural History: Dismissal Nature of the Case: CIVIL - WRONGFUL DEATH; Dismissal |
|
| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 11-21-2008 Appealed from: Hinds County Circuit Court Judge: William F. Coleman Disposition: The trial court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction. Case Number: 2007-30 |
|
| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | Don Sauvage and Gene Sauvage, Individually and as Personal Representatives of the Estate of Aranka Abadie Sauvage, Deceased |
STEPHEN W. MULLINS |
|
|
| Appellee: | Meadowcrest Living Center, LLC., Steve Yancovich, Administrator of Meadowcrest Living Center, LLC., Transition Health Services of Louisiana, LLC., Robert R. Bates, Corporate President of Transition Health Services of Louisiana, LLC., New Orleans Tours, Inc., and James E. Smith, Jr., Representative for New Orleans Tours, Inc., John Does 1-25 | COREY DONALD HINSHAW, CLIFFORD B. AMMONS |
|
|
| Appellee #2: | ||||
Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
|
| Topic: | Wrongful death - Suit pending in another state - Section 11-7-13 |
| Summary of the Facts: | Don Sauvage and Gene Sauvage, individually, and as the personal representatives of the estate of Aranka Abadie Sauvage, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in the Hinds County Circuit Court against Meadowcrest Living Center, LLC, Steve Yancovich, Transition Health Services of Louisiana, LLC, Robert Bates, New Orleans Tours, Inc., James E. Smith, Jr., and John Does 1-25. The complaint alleged that Meadowcrest was a nursing home in the City of Gretna, Louisiana, and that on the eve of Hurricane Katrina, Meadowcrest evacuated its elderly residents to a church camp in Raymond, Mississippi. The complaint alleged that Aranka was one of the evacuated residents, and that she died on September 1, 2005, as the result of inadequate medical care at the church camp. The Sauvages filed an almost identical action in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. The circuit court dismissed the complaint based on lack of personal jurisdiction over the defendants, or alternatively, forum non conveniens, and the Sauvages appeal. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | The Sauvages argue that the circuit court erred by dismissing the case for lack of personal jurisdiction or forum non conveniens. At the time the Sauvages filed their wrongful-death suit in Hinds County, another suit for the same death was pending in Louisiana. The Louisiana action remained pending at the time the trial court determined the motion to dismiss. Under section 11-7-13, there shall be one suit for the same death. All claims must be joined in that single action. These fundamental procedural rules for wrongful-death litigation in this state would be thwarted if our courts entertained a wrongful-death action in Mississippi, while a previously-filed suit for the same death was pending in another state. Thus, a wrongful-death suit filed in Mississippi is subject to dismissal during the pendency of a suit for the same wrongful death in a sister state. |
Home | Terms of Use | About the JDP | Feedback | Using JDP | MC Law Library | Mississippi Supreme Court
