Thanks for visiting! Welcome to a new way to research case law. You are viewing a free summary from Descrybe.ai. For citation and good law / bad law checking, legal issue analysis, and other advanced tools, explore our Legal Research Toolkit — not free, but close.
Colquitt v. Homer Memorial Hospital
Citations: 771 So. 2d 818; 2000 La. App. LEXIS 2664; 2000 WL 1634247Docket: No. 34,055-CA
Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal; October 31, 2000; Louisiana; State Appellate Court
John Davis Colquitt filed a discrimination lawsuit against the Town of Homer, Homer Memorial Hospital, hospital administrator Larry Jordan, and St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co., alleging that he was denied access to a doctor to complete a disability form due to racial and disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. After a motion for summary judgment was filed by Homer and Jordan, the trial court ruled in their favor, leading to this appeal. Colquitt's allegations stemmed from an incident on July 27, 1999, when he attempted to visit the hospital for a non-emergency purpose. Colquitt amended his petition on September 13, 1999, to include the Town of Homer as a defendant. Jordan's affidavit asserted that the hospital had a universal policy requiring individuals to be referred by a physician or admitted through the emergency room before seeing a doctor, claiming that the policy was not discriminatory. Colquitt failed to respond to the summary judgment motion and only presented his argument at the hearing, claiming perjury by Jordan and arguing he deserved a screening examination based on his medical history. The trial court granted summary judgment on December 13, 1999, noting that Colquitt had not alleged a need for emergency medical attention. The legal framework for summary judgment under Louisiana law allows either party to motion for summary judgment if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The burden of proof for the motion does not require the movant to disprove every element of the opposing party's claim but to demonstrate a lack of factual support for essential elements of that claim. An adverse party must provide sufficient factual support to demonstrate a genuine issue of material fact to avoid summary judgment. When a summary judgment motion is properly supported, the adverse party cannot rely solely on the allegations in their pleadings; they must present specific facts through affidavits or other means as required by procedural law. If they fail to do so, summary judgment can be granted against them. In this instance, Homer effectively argued that Colquitt lacked factual support for his discrimination claim, supported by Jordan's affidavit indicating that the hospital's refusal to provide care was based on uniform policy rather than discrimination. Consequently, the burden shifted to Colquitt to substantiate his claims, yet he did not provide any factual evidence, including regarding emergency medical treatment. His failure to respond with specific facts led to the granting of summary judgment against him. The trial court's decision is affirmed at Colquitt's expense. Additionally, Colquitt later filed a petition for damages against St. Paul, asserting the insurance company's liability for damages sought from Homer. The trial court's designation of the judgment as final was appropriate since St. Paul had not been a party to the summary judgment and had not responded to the lawsuit, although such designation is no longer necessary under current provisions of La. C.C.P. art. 1915(A).