NEW ORLEANS — Lexon Insurance Co. is seeking more than $2 million in surety bonds after Baby Oil, a Louisiana oil and gas producer, filed for bankruptcy in 2017, according to court documents.
The lawsuit was filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana against a Thibodaux, Louisiana, couple who owns company, Baby Oil Inc., which sought Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in September 2017.
Four counts were filed by the plaintiff on Aug. 3, who according to the filing, was “named as a creditor of Baby Oil,” and who had issued “certain surety bonds on behalf of Baby Oil.”
The defendant, Kris Suard, was listed as the president, treasurer, and a director of Baby Oil. Suard’s husband, Louis O’Neil Suard, was also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit as indemnitor.
In March 2007, the defendants executed a General Agreement of Indemnity (GAI) in favor of Lexon. In the terms, according to the filing, the defendant had agreed “to indemnify and save harmless Lexon for any claims, demands, losses, costs or expense arising out of any surety bonds executed by Lexon on behalf of Baby Oil.” According to the filing, the bonds totaled $2,267,224.
The plaintiff “has received multiple claims” against the bonds that were issued on behalf of Baby Oil, which “constitute liabilities, costs and expenses, which Lexon has and/or will incur by reason having executed bonds on behalf of Baby Oil,” the lawsuit states. The Louisiana Office of Conservation, State of Louisiana, was listed in several claims within the court document; the three listed claims totaled $2,521,760.
The four counts filed by the plaintiff against the Suards included breach of general agreement of indemnity (Count 1), exoneration (Count II), attorney’s fees and costs (Count III), and breach of contract — failure to pay bond premiums (Count IV).
The plaintiff is seeking a judgment in its favor on Count I in amount “ascertained to equal or exceed the sum of $2,267,224, “plus interest and such additional losses, costs and expenses, including attorneys’ fees.”
In Count II, the plaintiff is “seeking a judgment of exoneration in its favor against the Defendants” in the amount listed above.
The plaintiff is also seeking a Breach of Contract, Failure to Pay Bond Premiums in Count IV, and allege that the defendants are in material breach of the GAI and have “failed and/or refused to pay Lexon the sum of $94,318 in overdue bond premiums,” as well as losses, additional premiums, costs and expenses, including attorney’s fees.
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana Civil Action No. 2:18-cv-07383