Louisiana Federal Court Dismisses Punitive Damages Claims Against Pipeline Operator

Following a natural gas ignition in June 2013, a Louisiana plaintiff brought suit against the owner and operator of the natural gas transmission pipeline on claims that it had ruptured and exploded on her property, and had damaged her home and the surrounding area.  She filed a class action complaint against the pipeline operator claiming to also represent anyone affected within two miles of the incident and sued for punitive damages.  Last week, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana granted the pipeline’s motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s punitive damages claims.  Under Louisiana law, punitive damages are proper only where expressly authorized by statute (which only occurs in three situations: child pornography, driving while intoxicated, and criminal sexual activity during childhood), and no statute authorized punitive damages for this type of alleged conduct.  The plaintiff argued that the complaint brings claims that could be brought by members of the class who live in Mississippi, Alabama, or Florida, and that if the law of those state applied then punitive damages would be appropriate.  The court rejected this argument given that the alleged behavior that caused her alleged damages occurred in Louisiana.