MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Legal Newsline) – The Supreme Court of Alabama has reversed a lower court’s decision in a negligence lawsuit over a tenant's alleged injuries from carbon monoxide poisoning, ruling that the plaintiff's service of the suit was "ineffective."
In the 11-page ruling, Justice Alisa Kelli Wise reversed and remanded the case because she said the Chambers County Circuit Court had mistakenly ruled for default judgment against defendant Woodruff Brokerage Co. and awarded plaintiff Patricia Beatty $500,000 in damages. This was because, according to the Wise, Beatty had incorrectly mailed her initial complaint to Woodruff.
In its petition to the Alabama Supreme Court, Woodruff said that the default judgment ruling by the trial court was void because Beatty had not properly served the company per state law. It said that the law requires that if one is to serve a company via certified mail, the documents must be “addressed to a natural person.” Also, it must be received by either the person it was addressed to or an agent representing that person.
Woodruff contended that the lawsuit “was addressed solely to Woodruff Brokerage and not to a human being or natural person,” the ruling states. It said that Beatty had failed to show that Ryan Miles, who signed for the mail when it arrived at Woodruff, was an agent for the company, as the agent box had not been checked off on the return receipt. That receipt was also missing the name of Woodruff’s certified agent, Genevieve Green.
"Based on the foregoing, Beatty's service by certified mail was ineffective, the trial court did not obtain personal jurisdiction over Woodruff Brokerage, and the default judgment against it is void," Wise wrote.
On April 23, 2018, Beatty filed a lawsuit against Woodruff alleging that she had experienced symptoms related to carbon monoxide exposure in her apartment. The building that she lived in was owned by Woodruff.
She reported fatigue, weakness and nausea from what was described as “prolonged exposure to carbon monoxide from a leaking natural-gas line beneath her bedroom,” the ruling states, and that “she had been permanently injured as a result of that exposure.” Beatty alleged that the exposure had begun in December 2016 after the hot water heater for her apartment “burst, causing her grave injuries," the ruling states.
Beatty alleged that Woodruff had negligently and/or wantonly maintained and/or failed to maintain her apartment building. Also, that Woodruff allegedly had not warned Beatty about the condition of the building.