Wholesale Auto Group, Inc. v. The Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission and The Louisiana Used Motor Vehicle Commission

STATE OF LOUISIANA COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT WHOLESALE AUTO GROUP, INC. NO. 2019 CW 0747 VERSUS THE LOUISIANA MOTOR VEHICLE COMMISSION AND THE LOUISIANA USED MOTOR VEHICLE COMMISSION OCT 2 8 2019 In Re: Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission, for applying supervisory writs, 19th Judicial District Court, Parish of East Baton Rouge, No. 678659. BEFORE: WHIPPLE, C. J., MCDONALD, McCLENDON, THERIOT, AND CHUTZ, JJ. WRIT GRANTED. The trial court' s May 24, 2019 judgment denying the defendant' s, Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission' s, Exception of Improper Venue and Exception of Improper Joinder of Parties/ Improper Cumulation of Actions, is hereby reversed. We find that La. R. S. 32: 1253( H) dictates Jefferson Parish as the mandatory venue for the Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission and that the ancillary venue doctrine as articulated in Underwood v. Lane Memorial Hosp., 97- 1997 ( La. 7/ 8/ 98), 714 So. 2d 715 , and Black v. St. Tammany Parish Hasp., 2008- 2670 ( La. 11/ 6/ 09), 25 So. 3d 711 , is not applicable to the present case because La. R. S. 32: 1253( H) provides Jefferson Parish as the mandatory venue for the Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission and La. R. S. 32: 783 provides East Baton Rouge Parish as for the the mandatory venue Louisiana Used Motor Vehicle Commission. Under La. Code Civ. P. art. 464, the action against the Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission is dismissed because it was improperly joined to the plaintiff' s, Wholesale Auto Group' s, action against the Louisiana Used Motor Vehicle Commission. VGW JMM PMC MRT Chutz, J., dissents and would deny the writ. COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT DEPUTY CLERK OF COURT FOR THE COURT