Liskow lawyers Tyler Trew and Sheri Corales recently secured a ruling in their favor in Louisiana state court, at the preliminary stage of the litigation, dismissing the entirety of Plaintiffsʼ claims against Liskowʼs client, Lincoln Wood Products, Inc. ("Lincoln"), a building products manufacturer. Rob Boltin, along with his wife Carrie Boltin, initiated the lawsuit against Lincoln and Bayou Millwork & Windows, LLC ("Bayou") arising out of a February 2022 contract between Plaintiffs and Bayou where Plaintiffs purchased several windows and doors from Bayou that were manufactured by Lincoln.
Plaintiffs alleged a series of claims against Lincoln for breach of contract, quasi-contract, negligent misrepresentation, detrimental reliance, redhibition, and for violations under Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act. In response, prior to filing an Answer, Liskow filed a Peremptory Exception of No Cause of Action seeking dismissal of the entirety of the lawsuit. Specifically, Liskow asserted:
- Plaintiffsʼ Petition was devoid of any allegations that Lincoln, a manufacturer, not a seller, and the Plaintiffs entered an agreement upon which any breach of contract claim could be based;
- Plaintiffsʼ quasi-contract claim was equally without merit as there was no alleged benefit conferred upon Lincoln by virtue of which it was unjustly enriched by Plaintiffs;
- Plaintiffsʼ negligent misrepresentation claim was without merit because Lincoln had no duty of care to supply correct information to Plaintiffs related to when Bayouʼs order was placed;
- Plaintiffsʼ redhibition claim against Lincoln failed because Plaintiffsʼ allegations were not that the manufactured products had a latent redhibitory defect but instead they were not the kind specified in the contract with Bayou; and
- Plaintiffsʼ Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act Claim should be dismissed as the factual allegations against Lincoln did not fall within the Louisiana Supreme Courtʼs "extremely narrow" range of egregious prohibited practices.
The Court in turn dismissed Plaintiffsʼ claims against Lincoln for breach of contract, quasi-contract, negligent misrepresentation, redhibition, and for violations under Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act affording Plaintiffs the opportunity to amend. Plaintiffs subsequently amended their Petition, and Liskow reasserted its Peremptory Exception. The Court reaffirmed its prior decision and granted the Peremptory Exception dismissing the entirety of the claims against Lincoln, with prejudice, saving Lincoln both the time and expense that would have been incurred in connection with defending the lawsuit through discovery and trial.
A copy of the final ruling can be found here.
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