In Maw Enterprises, L.L.C. v. City of Marksville, 2014-0090 (La. 9/3/14), a premise owner filed suit against the City of Marksville based on the City’s failure to grant an alcoholic beverage permit to the premise owner’s lessee. The owner alleged that the failure to properly issue a permit caused harm in lower payments under the lease. In response, the City alleged that the premise owner did not have a cause of action, and the Supreme Court of Louisiana agreed. The Supreme Court reasoned that the permit was issued to the lessee, not the property owner. Thus, the owner possessed no cause of action concerning the permit’s non-issuance.
The owner also alleged a negligent interference with contractual relations by the City. However, the Court reasoned that there was no ease of association between the moral, social, and economic values involved with the duty to issue a retail alcoholic beverage permit and the economic loss allegedly sustained by an entity whose only interest arose from a lease with the permit applicant. Therefore, the Court ruled that the premise owner failed to state a cause of action upon which relief could be granted.